Finance
Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a devastating 12-over spell for 5 wickets and 37 runs as India bowled out Australia for 91 in their second innings to win the first Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series by an innings and 132 runs on Saturday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium, Jamtha.
Ashwin bowled his overs from the North End of the ground and reduced the Australians to their lowest-ever score in India in 50 balls. Australia’s previous low score was 93, achieved in 2004.
Australia was bowled out in less than a session, with their innings lasting only 32.3 overs and 131 minutes.
Ashwin took his 450th wicket in the first innings , recorded his 31st five-for as the Australian batters failed to read his bowling and went back to the pavilion in a procession.
Only four Australian batsmen reached double figures in a disastrous batting display, with Steve Smith remaining unbeaten on 25. At one point, they were attempting to beat South Africa’s 2017 score of 79 at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha.
Usman Khawaja (5) was caught by Kohli as he was fooled by the turn, Ashwin trapped David Warner (10) lbw with one that stayed low, caught Matt Renshaw plumb in front of the wicket with another that stayed low, and got Peter Handscomb lbw, hitting the front pad around the knee roll.
Alex Cary executed a calculated reverse sweep and completely missed the line, resulting in a back pad hit from Ashwin destroyed the Australian batting.
Ravindra Jadeja took 2 for 34 after taking 5-47 in the first innings, while Mohammed Shami took 3-13 from five overs as he wiped out the tail.
The Australians had arrived in India prepared to play spin bowling. They held camps in Sydney and Alur, near Bengaluru, where they received pitches tailored to what they expected to face in India. Their batsmen were given extensive practice for sweep and reverse sweep shots, and it was clear from their two innings in the first Test that they were told to go for sweep or reverse sweep as much as possible against the spinners.
Their batters hit predetermined shots in the first inning, which lasted 177 pitches. They didn’t learn much from that disaster and proceeded in the same manner in the second innings, playing the ball for what they expected it to do rather than what it actually did.
With the wicket offering a slow turn and low bounce, the Australian batsmen needed to use their feet and get to the ball to avoid lbw, which they couldn’t do and crashed to a crushing defeat.
Brief scores:
Australia 177 & 91 all out in 32.3 overs (Steve Smith 25 not out; R Ashwin 5-37, R Jadeja 2-34, M Shami 2-13) lost to India 400 all out in 139.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 120, Ravindra Jadeja 70, Axar Patel 84, Mohd Shami 37; Todd Murphy 7-124, Cummins 2-78) by innings and 132 runs.
Source:OCN
