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Australia reached 149 for two at tea against India on the opening day of the series-deciding fourth Test here on Thursday. Usman Khawaja and skipper Steve Smith were batting on 65 and 38, respectively, at the tea break. Earlier, Smith won the toss and opted to bat first. Brief scores: Australia 1st innings: 149/2 in 62 overs (Usman Khawaja 65 batting, Steve Smith 38 batting).
Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bowl against India in the series-deciding fourth Test here on Thursday. Before the toss, the two captains received the Test cap from their respective prime ministers, Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese. BCCI president Roger Binny felicitated Australia's Prime minister Albanese, while the secretary Jay Shah felicitated PM Modi. Modi and Albanese also did a lap of honour across the ground to mark the occasion of 75 years of friendship between India and Australia. Australia remained unchanged, while Mohammed Shami replaced Mohammed Siraj in the Indian team. Teams: India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami Australia: Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (capt), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne handled the Indian spinners with a lot of confidence as Australia recovered from early jitters to reach 76 for two at lunch on opening day of the first Test, here Thursday. Mohammed Shami (1/12) and Mohammed Siraj (1/13) removed Usman Khawaja (1) and David Warner (1) in quick succession but Labuschagne (47) and Smith (19) led the Australian fight back in an engaging first session where they didn't let India's spin troika get better of them. Labuschagne, who hit eight shots to the fence in his 110-ball innings, played the role of an enforcer whereas his senior Smith defended doggedly during his 74-ball stay, nullifying the Indian spinners to a great extent in their 74-run stand for the third wicket. There were a few deliveries from both Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel that turned and jumped, making life difficult for debutant Kona Bharat behind the stumps but Australia's two best batters were on top of their game during the session. Ravichandran ...