- Australia 104 and 238; India 150 and 487-6 dec in Perth
- India win series opener by 295 runs despite Head’s defiant 89
It’s funny to watch a day of Test cricket in which nothing matters. Not that any day of cricket really matters, if we’re honest, but a day when the play doesn’t even make a difference within the match itself. India in Perth on Monday had up their sleeve 522 runs and two bowling days to take seven wickets on a pitch already showing erratic bounce. The wickets would fall and the match would end, whatever the configuration. Travis Head slapping 89 runs and Mitchell Marsh launching some sixes on his way to 47 was great fun, but didn’t change the calculus in the slightest.
Usman Khawaja was the only player with the pedigree to bat a day and a half late in a game, but he fell immediately to a pull without gauging the bounce. Steve Smith is thought of in the same category but has always had a mediocre record batting last, even during his deity years – 70% of his career runs have come in the team’s first innings. This time, he was out for 17. The lower order couldn’t muster much, and as in the first innings, keeper Alex Carey looked the most controlled and confident ahead of his specialist batting colleagues. He was last out for 36 and his team went down by 295 runs.
