BGT: Jasprit Bumrah strikes gold in Perth after Kohli drops sitter in slips

India captain Jasprit Bumrah compensated for Virat Kohli’s horror show in the slips, picking three early wickets in Australia's first innings on day one of the Perth Test. 

Virat dropped Australia number three Marnus Labuschagne on a sitter on a second-ball duck early in the innings. After Bumrah dismissed debutant Nathan McSweeney trapped in front of the wicket on 10, he bowled a peach of a delivery to Marnus, who edged it only for Kohli to drop him in the second slip. 

Earlier, Virat got out on five to Josh Hazlewood.

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Bumrah was on song from ball one in the second innings, trying to make up for the batting order failure in the first Test, with India getting all out on 150 after electing to bat first. After bowling an excellent first over, Bumrah returned to haunt the Aussies, picking McSweeney LBW. 

Meanwhile, Australia could be two down inside the third over had Kohli picked Marnus on a duck. The India gun fielder dropped a simple catch, and while others began celebrating, including Bumrah, Kohli immediately informed everyone of the blunder, signalling he dropped it.

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Australia, however, failed to make the most of that chance as they lost two wickets on successive balls in Bumrah’s next over to fall back to the back foot. 

Bumrah dismisses Khawaja, Smith

Khawaja was perhaps the only batter in this lineup to never get out to Bumrah; in seven outings against each other, having bowled 155 deliveries before the start of this game, the India ace seamer never picked Khawaja’s wicket. That stat, however, went in the drain, as Bumrah first dismissed the veteran leftie, edged to the slip cordon before picking the big fish Steve Smith plumbed on a first-ball duck.

Those two wickets brought the Indian camp and the crowd to its feet as Australia’s scorecard read 19 for three inside the first seven overs. 

Kohli out early

Like several top-order batters, Virat struggled to get going against the moving and bouncy ball at the Optus Stadium, falling on a single-digit score (five off 12 balls) in the first innings.

The India batting great looked out of sorts from the word go, playing across the line early on. Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood bowled tight lines to him before pitching one short to get rid of him. The extra bounce caught Kohli off guard as he edged one to the first slip, piling trouble for India, which got reduced to 32 for three at that stage.

(With inputs from agencies)