After Jaiswal-Kohli-Bumrah Heroics, Can India Beat Australia By Record Margin In 1st Test?

Perth: It was the perfect day of Test cricket for Team India.

The visiting team produced a sparkling batting display to amass 487 for 6 declared in their second innings. Chasing an improbable victory target of 534 runs, Australia were left tottering at 12/3 at stumps on Day 3 of the opening Test.

With 2 days remaining in the match, Australia require a miracle to score the remaining 522 runs, as India eye their biggest Test victory at the expense of their biggest rivals.

India’s previous largest win, by runs came earlier this year when they thrashed England by 434 runs in the Rajkot Test.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were the three mega performers for India on Super Sunday at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

The left-handed opener, just 22 years old, added 10 to his overnight score to reach his fourth three-figure knock in 15 Tests.

Jaiswal reached 100 with a typically audacious ramp shot to a short ball from Josh Hazlewood for a six to thirdman.

He batted merrily against a tiring Aussie attack before hitting a square cut straight to the point fielder, but by then his knock of 161 (297 balls, 15×4, 3×6) had entertained the large crowd over two days and left the home team deflated.

All his four 100-plus knocks in Test cricket so far have been scores of over 150 – 171 vs West Indies, 209 vs England, 214* vs England, 161 vs Australia.

Jaiswal’s 161 is the highest score by an Indian playing his first Test match in Australia. He became the second-youngest Indian opener – after legendary Sachin Tendulkar — to score a century in Australia.

With the impressive KL Rahul, who made 77, Jaiswal shared the first-ever double century partnership (201) for the first wicket, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s 191-run effort at Sydney in 1986.

An out-of-form Virat Kohli then came into his own and scored a classy Test century (100 not out off 143 balls, 8×4, 2×6), which had eluded him for a year and four months.

Kohli’s relief and joy at getting the monkey off his back were palpable as he threw kisses at wife Anushka Sharma after reaching what was his 30th Test hundred.

Skipper Bumrah then came into his own after declaring India’s second innings to have a half-hour crack at Australian batters.

He trapped debutant opener Nathan McSweeney (0) leg-before wicket for the second time in the match with his fourth delivery. An equally fired-up Mohammed Siraj had nightwatchman and skipper Pat Cummins (2) pouched by Kohli at slip, before Bumrah trapped Marnus Labuschagne (3) leg-before wicket with what turned out to be the final ball of a most memorable day for Indian cricket.

Brief Scores

India 1st innings: 150

Australia 1st innings: 104

India 2nd innings: 487/6 declared (Yashasvi Jaiswal 161, Virat Kohli 100 not out, KL Rahul 77, Nitish Reddy 38 not out; Nathan Lyon 2/96).

Australia 2nd innings: 12/3 (Jasprit Bumrah 2/1, Md Siraj 1/7).

Match situation: Australia need 522 more runs, India 7 wickets for victory.

First Test to continue on Day 4.