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AUSvIND, 1st Test: HISTORIC VICTORY = SEALED, Boom’s first win as captain

By Mumbai Indians

When the going gets tough, the tough get going…

Stepping into familiar territory knowing nothing less than a win would be enough to get one step closer to the WTC final, Jasprit Bumrah and Co. kickstarted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 with a terrific 295-run triumph at the Optus Stadium, their biggest in terms of runs in Australia!

Captain's fantastic fifer, YBJ and VK’s scintillating tons, memorable debuts for Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana and much more… Here’s how our storied victory unfolded in Perth!

Pant, Nitish Reddy keep the boat afloat

Opting to bat first, Team India was put to a stern test against a potent fast bowling line-up.

Among batters, Rishabh Pant (37 off 78) and debutant Nitish Reddy (41 off 59) pulled the visitors out of a troublesome situation.

While the southpaw hit three fours and a six, including a typical Rishabh Pant Shot, Nitish bhau looked almost flawless with his attacking approach, which involved six fours and a solitary maximum.

The Aussies made the most of the pitch suited for seamers, with Josh Hazelwood’s 4/29 and two wickets each from Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh bowling India out for 150.

Bowlers make the home side feel the heat

We only believe on Jassi bhai because… game changer player he is, only one guy JASPRIT BUMRAH!!!

18-6-30-5 — Boom’s terrific display of pace bowling rattled the opposition batting line-up, restricting them to 104/10, their fourth-lowest total in a Test innings against India.

Moreover, no dokayla trass this time out as debutant Harshit Rana too bagged three wickets, dismissing Travis Head <duh!> with a peach of a delivery to register his maiden international wicket. Not a bad start to a Team India career, eh?

Indian batters have a blast in the middle!

Seemingly, the pitch eased out for the batters on Day 2 onwards and the openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul made full use of it, stitching a terrific 201-run partnership, the highest opening stand for India on Australian soil across formats.

YBJ continued his fine run of form, scoring 161 runs to help his team take the pole position, with the lead being 300+.

Virat Kohli, too, recorded his 81st century of a legendary career that oozed class and intent throughout. The 36-year-old’s unbeaten 100-run knock took the team’s lead to 533 runs, setting a mammoth target for the Baggy Greens.

HUM JEET GAYE!!

As Day 3 came to a close, Australia found themselves sweating at 12/3 in the run chase.

…And it was only a matter of time before the Indian cricket team went 1-0 up, putting the game beyond their reach.

Overpowering the brief middle-order resistance, Team India ran past the Aussie batting unit by the 3rd session on Day 4 to go 1-0 up in this do-or-die series ahead of the WTC final!

 

Brief scores: India 150/10 (Nitish Reddy 41; Josh Hazlewood 4/29) and 487/6 d (Yashasvi Jaiswal 161; Nathan Lyon 2/96) beat Australia 104/10 (Mitchell Starc 26; Jasprit Bumrah 5/30) and 238/10 (Travis Head 89; Jasprit Bumrah 3/42) by 295 runs.