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The early hours of the first Test between Australia and India saw former Australia skipper Steven Smith surpassing Michael Clarke’s record. The batter is now second in the list of Australian batters to score highest runs against India in Tests. Notably, the 2024-25 edition of the Border Gavaskar Trophy is currently underway as the sides engaged in the first clash at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Until the end of the Day 3, Australia had lost Nathan McSweeney, skipper Pat Cummins, and Marnus Labuschagne as they aimed to chase a huge target of 534 runs.
The fourth day started with India already getting an upper hand in the game and Australia had Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja on the crease. Just when the Baggy Greens thought they could chase the target, Mohammed Siraj came in and bowled a couple of important morning spells to remove Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith. Travis Head, however, had come up with 63* runs off 72 balls till lunch.
Siraj, who had struggled in the earlier three-match series against New Zealand, found his rhythm back in the game and emerged as Australia's worst nightmare. Head’s innings kept hopes alive for the side but India attacked the hosts. By lunch, Australia put up a total of 104 wickets with the loss of five wickets after 30 overs, with Marsh batting on 5 for 23 and Head scoring 63 runs off 72.
Earlier, Hazlewood heaped praise on Yashasvi Jaiswal and said, 'He (Jaiswal) played really well. Good player. We went through our plans. We hung it outside off for a bit with an off-side field. We tried straight, we tried the bouncers. We tried a lot of things. He negated everything. credit to him. He batted well.”
