After India was bundled out for 150, the Australians too faced a batting collapse as Jasprit Bumrah and Co. breathed fire at Perth- The Week

Captain Jasprit Bumrah made amends for his debatable toss call to bat first with a mesmerising opening spell that left Australia scurrying for cover at 67 for 7. Earlier, India too, failed with bat on the opening day of the first Test in Perth to be bowled out for just 150 runs in 49.4 overs.

The first day that witnessed the fall of as many as 17 wickets after Bumrah elected to bat first on a track with a liberal grass cover which generated appreciable seam movement and midriff high bounce.

It was debutant Nitish Reddy’s gutsy 41 and Rishabh Pant’s 37, including an unbelievable sixer, that got India to 150 in 49.4 overs with Josh Hazlewood (4/29), Mitchell Starc (2/14 in 11 overs), Pat Cummins (2/67 in 15.4 overs) and Mitchell Marsh (2/12 in 5 overs) sharing the spoils.

Young guns like Yashasvi Jaiswal (0) and Devdutt Padikkal (0) looked completely out of place during a brilliant opening spell bowled in tandem by Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Virat Kohli (5) was done in by a short ball from Hazlewood. The star Indian batter couldn’t remove his bat from the line of the ball and the resultant edge became a regulation slip catch.

Later, Australia had no answer to Bumrah’s (4/17 in 10 overs) quality that was on display. Mohammed Siraj (2/17 in 9 overs) and debutant Harshit Rana (1/33 in 8 overs) also stepped up to support their skipper to the horror of the home team.

Usman Khawaja (8) just froze in his crease once Bumrah decided to square him up by coming round the wicket. Virat Kohli, who had earlier dropped Marnus Labuschagne ( 2 off 52 balls), didn’t make any mistake on this one. Debutant Nathan McSweeney (10) got a nip-backer and DRS ruled him leg before.

But it was out of form Steven Smith (0), who got a very difficult first delivery that zoomed in and dipped catching him plumb in front.

Once Bumrah set the tone, debutant Harshit, with a bustling action, got one that pitched on middle stump, drawing Travis Head (11) forward before it deviated to dislodge the off-bail.

Australia were reeling at 31 for 4.

Labuschagne took 24 balls to get off the mark and also found himself at the receiving end of some heated words from an agitated Siraj.

The Indian then pitched one up to Mitchell Marsh and the resultant edge was brilliantly snapped by KL Rahul before ending Labuschagne’s 52-ball agony with an in-cutter.

Bumrah then came for his final spell of the day to remove the rival skipper as India took control of the proceedings.