#IndiaInAustralia: Three key moments of day one of second Test
The Indian cricket team seemed to have got the call wrong of going with four-man pace attack against Australia on Day 1 of the second Test in Perth. Australia were 112/0, before losing 4 scalps in a space of 36 runs. The hosts rallied through Shaun Marsh and Travis Head, before losing them both. Here are the key things that defined today's play.
For the Aussies, openers Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch scored respective fifties to start strong. Marsh (45) and Head (58) added 84 runs to get Aussies to 277/6. For India, the Indian pacers managed five wickets among themselves. Part-time spinner Hanuma Vihari grabbed two.
The talks of a lively and fast pitch did the rounds prior to this Test. And skipper Virat Kohli decided to go with no specialist spinner in the Test. The pitch did not provide the danger as expected. The Aussies showed grit in first and third session of the day. After watching Vihari's heroics, India missed the plot by leaving out Ravindra Jadeja.
Aussie openers finally came good to steer the ship. There was a wave of concern regarding the form of Finch in particular. But the limited-overs specialist struck a decent 105-ball 50. Harris stole the show in just his third innings for Australia in Test cricket. He looked solid and played some fluent shots. He struck 10 fours in a 70-run knock.
Indian pacers lacked the cutting edge on Day 1. There was bounce and carry, but the consistency was missing. India relied on a blinder from Kohli and loose shots from Usman Khawaja, Harris and Head to get the wickets. But no Aussie batsman went on to score that big knock. They have created the base though and can get well past 350-run mark.
