A convincing win for India in Nagour as he goes innings and 132 earned runs to go 1-0 up in the series.
The wickets fell as nine bowls for Australia with Usman Khawaja’s opener biting the dust. Rohit Sharma handed the new ball to Mohammed Shami who bowled three overs. It was Ashwin who sent Khawaja off and Jadeja followed him and caught Labuschagne head-on. Ashwin retired the left-handed batter that day with only Steve Smith holding a hand. From David Warner to Matt Renshaw, from Peter Handscomb to Alex Carey, everyone bowed to Ashwin’s humor. Ashwin took fifth place after almost two years and 21 innings.
Australia had previously opted to bat first and could only collect 177 runs on the board. Jadeja closed with a five, expertly supported by Ashwin, who has three wickets. Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were the only notable contributors to the visiting team. In response, India had accumulated 400 runs in the first innings, with captain Rohit Sharma scoring a century. Jadeja (70) and Axar (84) added half a century to bring the total to 400 runs. Shami made a great cameo. For Australia, bowler Todd Murphy was the bowlers’ choice with 7/124.
Man of the match: Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja is Man of the Match for his seven wickets and 70 runs in the first Test. What an incredible effort on your part as you return from knee surgery. It bodes well for India in the upcoming series and their confidence.
The action continues with the T20 Women’s World Cup later today and tomorrow’s blockbuster between India and Pakistan. Then join us. Bye!
Ravindra Jadeja was penalized and fined
India’s spinner Ravindra Jadeja was penalized and fined 25% of his match fee for applying the ointment (soothing cream) on Day 1 of this test without permission from the umpires on the field. ICC has clarified that their refereeing team is confident that this has not been used as an artificial substance to alter the state of the ball.
Comments from R Ashwin:
This is probably Plan A they (Australia) had, I’m sure they’ll do some soul-searching and try to come up with other plans for the next game. I’ve been through a lot, but staying in the moment is very important. If you keep flying and want to make plans in the sky, things can go wrong. I expect Australia to come back very tough and strong. They are a world-class team. In this game, we just hit beautifully and hit deep even today. 220 is a lot of runs. The next game would be different, I’m looking forward to it.
Ravichandran Ashwin after the match:
“You know how things work from day three here in test matches. I’d give credit to the batting unit, they dug deep and kept them in the field long. It’s going to be hard for the team to come out and hit Putting wickets early today’s show”
“(Because I’m a night watchman) I’ve struggled to be able to sit inside and watch guys hit sometimes, I’m just too nervous these days. I’ve asked them for a chance to go out and check in an early hit if there’s a chance and it just came. My friend Pujara just let it go, he said I need a night watchman, 20 minutes to go.” I took that opportunity with pleasure.”
“I thought this wicket was pretty slow. You need the batsman to drive this. Getting him to drive was a good way for me to lure them into the shots and get the other half of the bat too. Carrying and rebounding seemed a bit low”.
“(Bowling with Jadeja) Huge help is an understatement. He’s in phenomenal form. The way he hits, the way he bowls and we don’t need to talk about how well he moves on the pitch. He’s been a fantastic cricketer. I am very grateful to have a partner like him to bowl alongside me and Axar is no ordinary bowler either. We have a very good group of spinners and as many as we can bat”.
Brief Scores
- Australia 1st innings: 177 and 2nd innings: 91 all out in 32.3 overs (Ravichandran Ashwin 5/37).
- India 1st innings: 400 all out in 139.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 120, Axar Patel 84, Ravindra Jadeja 70; Todd Murphy 7/124)
