India bowl out Australia for 263 on day one in Delhi

Australia produced a much-improved performance with the bat on day one of the second Test in Delhi as Usman Khawaja and Pete Hanscomb notched up impressive half-centuries to take the tourists to a first innings total of 263. Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers for India on day one, taking four scalps, while Ashwin and Jadeja managed three wickets apiece to bowl out the visitors inside 80 overs.

Pat Cummins’ side made two changes to their line-up following their chastening defeat in Nagpur, with Travis Head replacing Matt Renshaw and left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann receiving his maiden Test cap over pacer Scott Boland. The visitors got off to a better start compared to day one in Nagpur, with David Warner and Usman Khawaja seeing out the new ball spell without losing any damage.

While Warner struggled against a short ball barrage against Siraj, Khawaja was particularly impressive and found some scoring options to give Australia the early momentum. Shami returned to remove Warner in his second spell with a superb delivery that caught the outside edge, but Khawaja continued to go on the offense, using the sweep to great effect.

Marnus Labuschagne looked bright in his short stint at the crease. However, Ravichandran Ashwin removed the right-hander just before Lunch with an exceptional delivery, trapping the right-hander on his pads from around the stumps. Ashwin also got the big wicket of Steve Smith just two balls later, finding the outside edge off a ball that didn’t turn to send the number four back for a duck.

Mohammed Shami removed Travis Head shortly after Lunch, reducing Australia to 108 for 4, but Usman Khawaja kept the visitors in the game, bringing up his half-century. The left-hander looked in supreme control and added 59 runs alongside Pete Hanscomb to put the pressure back on the hosts. The stand was broken by a special one-handed catch from KL Rahul to remove Khawaja for 81, and India added another wicket in the next over as Alex Carey edged Ashwin to slip.

Handscomb kept Australia in the contest with another 59-run stand alongside Pat Cummins, who took on Ashwin and showed commendable defensive technique against the spinners in his 59-ball 33. The pair took Australia past 200 for the first time in the series before Jadeja removed Cummins and Todd Murphy in the same over. Shami picked up the final two wickets for India but not before Handscomb brought up his half-century to take Australia to a respectable first innings total of 263.

The hosts had to contend with nine tricky overs before the close of play in the final session, and Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul survived till stumps, cutting Australia’s lead to 242 to set up a riveting day two in Delhi.