Australia vs India 1st Test Day 1: Pujara fights, but bowlers give Australia the upper hand

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Australia bowlers torment India batsmen 1st Test Day 1 Adelaide cricket

Australia’s bowlers proved to be a nightmare for the Indian batsmen

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Australia’s bowlers worked as a cohesive unit to give their side the edge on the opening day in Adelaide, even though India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara scored a magnificent 123.

Opting to bat first, India made a dismal start to their innings as opener Lokesh Rahul was caught by Aaron Finch at third slip off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood for two runs.

Murali Vijay, who opened the batting with Rahul, only scored 11 runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Mitchell Starc.

Virat Kohli was the next to go as he was brilliantly caught by Usman Khawaja at gully off the bowling of Pat Cummins for three runs.

Ajinkya Rahane also failed to have an impact with the bat as he was caught by Peter Handscomb at second slip off the bowling of Hazlewood for 13.

Pujara and Rohit Sharma temporarily kept Australia at bay with a 45-run partnership before Rohit was dismissed by Nathan Lyon for 37.

Pujara and Rishabh Pant added 41 runs to the score before Pant was caught behind off the bowling of Lyon for 25.

Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin kept the runs flowing with a 62-run partnership before Ashwin was caught by Handscomb at second slip off the bowling of Cummins for 25.

Ishant Sharma fell shortly after for four runs, while Pujara went on to score 123, which came off 246 balls and included seven boundaries and two sixes, before he was run out by Cummins.

As soon as Pujara was dismissed, stumps was called, with Mohammad Shami unbeaten on six off nine balls, which included a boundary.

Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon picked up two wickets apiece.

India ended day one on 250/9 and will continue batting on Friday at 10:30 local time or 00:00 GMT.

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