Australia win first Test match since ball-tampering scandal
Australia have grabbed their first Test victory without suspended stars Steve Smith and David Warner.
Needing five wickets for victory on Tuesday’s fifth day in Perth, the Aussies found little resistance as India folded in just over an hour.
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Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins tormented the Indian tail, bowling the tourists out for 140.
The victory by 146 runs levels the four-Test series at 1-1 heading into Boxing Day.
It also marks the first Test victory under the leadership of new skipper Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer.
Paine endeared himself with the Australian public after not taking a backward step in an ongoing battle with Virat Kohli.
“It’s a relief to be honest,” Paine said in the post-match ceremony.
“To grab that first win since everything’s happened is pretty special.”
Nathan Lyon was named man of the match for his eight-wicket haul, taking his series tally to 16 in just two Tests.
The hosts captured the early ascendancy from the moment Paine won the toss and stayed on top of the world No.1 Test team despite a couple of inspired fightbacks, the most notable of which was spearheaded by Kohli’s first century on tour.
India resumed at 5-112 on Tuesday, having been asked to complete what would have been a record-breaking chase of 287, and were quickly rolled for 140.
Their hopes of a miracle evaporated amid a brutal bouncer barrage, in which Starc struck Umesh Yadav on the shoulder and then accepted a return catch in the same over.
An outstanding catch from Peter Handscomb helped Lyon dismiss danger man Rishabh Pant.
Lyon, the leading wicket-taker in the series with 16 scalps at 19.43, finished with match figures of 8-106 to raise further questions about India’s decision to pick a four-prong pace attack in Perth.
Australia snapped a six-Test winless streak, which dated back to their infamous tour of South Africa in March.
Much has been made of Australia’s failures, on and off the field, since the Cape Town cheating scandal.
Paine, whose cheeky chirping behind the stumps continued on day five, has remained calm throughout the crisis and in Perth his inexperienced teammates showed similar fight.
Australia celebrated jubilantly when Cummins held a skied catch off his own bowling to end the match, shook hands with Kohli’s team then quickly turned their attention to thanking those fans at Perth Stadium.
Australia’s nine-month wait for Test win:
The team has waited over nine months for a red-ball victory. Prior to Perth, their most recent win (overshadowed by the staircase stoush between Warner and Quinton de Kock) came in Durban.
Paine’s side have lost Tests in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Abu Dhabi and Adelaide. It would have been a six-Test losing streak if not for a dramatic draw in Dubai.
Some 21 players have donned the baggy green. Chadd Sayers, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Marcus Harris have all debuted.
Lyon has delivered more than 2500 balls in Tests.
Australia have also found white-ball wins hard to come by in that stretch. They suffered a seven-match ODI losing streak, the nation’s worst slump in that format.
Warner, Smith, Darren Lehmann, James Sutherland, David Peever and Pat Howard have all either stood down, been stripped of their leadership positions or sacked.
SECOND TEST SNAPSHOT:
STATE OF PLAY: Australia 326 and 243; India 283 and 140. Australia win the Test by 146 runs to level the four-match series at 1-1.
MAN OF THE DAY: Starc. Not only did he get two of the five wickets on Tuesday but his searing bouncers had India’s tailenders in fear for their safety. His rising delivery that struck Umesh Yadav on the shoulder was a ripper.
KEY MOMENT: Hanuma Vihari’s downfall. India needed Vihari and Rishabh Pant to score the bulk of the runs if they were to have a legitimate chance of pulling off a win. When Vihari departed at the hands of Starc early on day five it exposed India’s long tail. When Pant was sent packing by a great diving catch from Peter Handscomb it was as good as game over.
STAT OF THE DAY: 10 wickets at an average of 22.8. That’s been Starc’s return this series. Not bad for a bloke who was battered from pillar to post on social media after the series opener in Adelaide.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It’s a long time coming. I think this week’s just shown the fight and the desire of this team and hopefully we’ve made a lot of Australians proud.” – Starc after Australia claimed their first Test victory in nine months.
with AAP
