Indore Test: India bowled out for 109, their 4th-lowest total at home against Australia after failure against spin
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023: Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon picked up 8 wickets between them as India t the trail by spin on Day 1 of the Indore Test. Virat Kohli top-scored with 22.
Indore Test: India 109-all out, their 4th-lowest total at home vs Australia (AP Photo)
By India Today Sports Desk: For the first time in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rohit Sharma won the toss and India opted to bat. However, the hosts failed to make good use of the early advantage as they folded for just 109 in just over a session on Day 1 of the 3rd Test in Indore. On a pitch that offered more turn than Delhi and Nagpur, India batters crumbled against the Australian spinners, who had their tails up.
India headed into the 3rd Test after already having sealed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but all the confidence went down the train as they were at sea against spin.
Indore Test, Day 1 Live Updates
It was India’s 14th-lowest total at home in Test cricket and their third lowest-ever against Australia at home. Thanks to Umesh Yadav’s cameo of 17 from 13 deliveries, India managed to go past the 100-run mark.
Virat Kohli top-scored with 22 for India, showcasing application and intent on how to play spin on a treacherous pitch where the ball was turning square and keeping low on odd occasions. Axar Patel remained unbeaten on 12 but the in-form all-rounder ran out of partners in the end.
LOWEST TOTALS FOR INDIA AT HOME vs AUSTRALIA
104 in Wankhede in 2004
105 in Pune in 2017
107 in Pune in 2017
109* in Indore in 2023
India were rattled as early as the first over when Mitchell Starc troubled Rohit Sharma and got him out twice, only for the on-field umpire to give it not out.
Rohit failed to make use of the rub of green that went his way as he threw his wicket away, getting down the track and missing a ran turner from left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann. Shubman Gill looked good for his 21 but he was undone by a fine delivery that spun away and was caught by stand-in captain Steve Smith at first slip.
Smith, who was standing in for Pat Cummins who left for Sydney to be with his ill mother, made the right moves and his decision to bring in left-arm spinner Kuhnemann as early as the 6th over worked wonders.
Kuhnemann picked up his maiden 5-wicket haul and finished with figures of 5/16 while Nathan Lyon picked up 3 crucial wickets. Toddy Murphy picked up only one wicket but it was the crucial scalp of Virat Kohli, who seemed to have found a way to negate the spin threat from Australia.
