Australia quicks bundle out India for 150

Australia fast bowlers continued to twist the knife on India as they bundled them out for just 150 in the 50th over of the innings on the first day of the series opener in Perth. Josh Hazlewood added the wickets of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana to the two he picked in the morning phase while Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins struck twice each in the post-Lunch session to bring down the curtains on India's batting efforts.

India began the session on a confident note as Dhruv Jurel drove solidly on both the front and back foot. Marsh however, drew him forward with a length ball that went to Marnus Labuschagne at first slip off the outside edge. Washington Sundar was then undone by an extra bit of bounce - like Virat Kohli - to give Marsh his second wicket of the session.

Rishabh Pant pushed back against the one-way traffic that Day 1 in Perth was shaping up to be. In the morning session, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal were forced to nick away from the body, while Kohli was consumed by excess bounce from Hazlewood. Towards the end of the session, a solid-looking KL Rahul - who'd done well to play inside the line of seaming deliveries, was adjudged out by the third umpire for a caught-behind appeal. He walked off incensed, shaking his head as the replays showed a spike in the snicko, but it came on a frame where the ball had just gone past the bat and his bat had hit his pad.

Pant, as is his wont, threw caution to the winds by charging down against Cummins and getting a thick outside edge that flew over the slip cordon to the third man fence. At the other end, 21-year-old debutant Nitish Reddy was solid to start off, even if it took him seven deliveries to get his first run. He rode the bounce well against the quicks and was also assured against Lyon, playing a wristy drive through cover for his first four. He then gave the spinner the charge to pick the gap between cover and mid-off. Nitish even used the reverse sweep option against Lyon to access vacant areas on the field.

Both Pant and Nitish also enjoyed the rub of the green in the first half of the session. Pant got away with a cross-batted hoick off Mitchell Starc that Cummins couldn't hold onto after running backwards from mid-on and attempting to catch. Nitish meanwhile, escaped Australia's indecision over reviewing a caught behind call. Replays showed the ball went to Alex Carey off Nitish's gloves.

Cummins, however, broke through eventually. Pant had got comfortable with the Aussie skipper's round-the-wicket angle, and even hit him for a typical flicked six over backward square leg where he fell over. Cummins switched to over the stumps and induced an outside edge that flew to Steve Smith at second slip. Harshit Rana became Hazelwood's third wicket through an exceptional effort in the cordon from McSweeney and Labuschagne. The ball went low to the left of McSweeney at gully, who dived and managed to parry it in the direction of Labuschagne. Labuschagne then grabbed it one-handed to leave India eight down.

With Bumrah for company, Nitish began to take some more risks in search of quick runs. He played a spectacular upper cut off Cummins for a six. Bumrah himself scored a six - off Hazlewood - with a pull over the keeper's head. Hazlewood however, got him to edge one behind the stumps too. Nitish got into the 40s but was dismissed by Cummins to round up the Indian innings.

Brief Scores: India 150 (Nitish Reddy 41, Rishabh Pant 38; Josh Hazlewood 4-29, Mitchell Marsh 2-12, Mitchell Marsh 2-14, Pat Cummins 2-67) vs Australia