After years of Test cricket being played at the WACA, Cricket Australia decided to move to a new stadium in Perth. In 2018, the second game of the Border Gavaskar Trophy saw the inaugural game being played at the Perth Stadium. It was a huge moment for the home team as they unveiled yet another state of the art facility to the world.
Team India came into the game after their 31-run win in the previous game in Adelaide. Cheteshwar Pujara’s 123 and 71 had helped India dominate proceedings before the bowlers did the job with the ball. This was the start of India’s iconic and first ever series win in Australian soil.
The home team under Tim Paine were reeling without the services of their senior stars. Steve Smith and David Warner were handed bans along with Cameron Bancroft for their roles in the sandpaper saga that took place in South Africa that year. Darren Lehmann who was the coach stepped down after the incident as Justin Langer took over.
Australia claims huge win in Perth Test debut
It was Tim Paine who won the toss and chose to bat first as openers Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch added 112 for the 1st wicket. The pair batted for over 35 overs and frustrated the Indian bowling unit. Jasprit Bumrah got the 1st wicket when he dismissed Aaron Finch for 50 off 105 balls with 6 hits to the fence.
Marcus Harris was the top scorer with 70 having batted for 224 minutes and scoring his runs off 141 balls with 10 fours. Travis Head (58), Shaun Marsh (39), and Tim Paine’s 38 were the other useful contributions for Australia who scored 326 in their 1st innings. Ishant Sharma was the best bowler for India with 4/41 from his 20.3 overs.
In reply, India were bundled out for 283 with Virat Kohli scoring 123 off 257 balls with 23 fours and a six. He was ably supported for a while by Ajinkya Rahane who scored 51 with Rishabh Pant scoring 36. Nathan Lyon’s 5/67 was the fifer picked at the new venue by any bowler.
In the second innings, Mohammed Shami ran through the Australian batting unit to bowl them out for 243. The right-arm seamer picked 6/56 from his 24 as he combined hostility and precision to unsettle the batters. Shaun Marsh scored his 2nd successive fifty in the second innings of that particular match to end up as the top scorer with 72 runs.
Needing 287 to win, India were bowled out for just 140 to help the host win the game by 146 runs and level the series. Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant were the joint top scorers with 30 each while Hanuma Vihari batted 107 minutes for his 28 runs. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon picked 3 scalps apiece while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood picked 2 wickets to give the home team a huge win.
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