PERTH: Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah made history on Saturday, securing his seventh five-wicket haul in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries, tying with legendary Kapil Dev for most by an Indian bowler in aforementioned countries.
Bumrah added yet another feather to his hat and added to his legacy as India’s all-time great in SENA conditions during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Perth against Australia. India has a weak record in SENA countries historically and started improving their record in 2000s.
During the game, Bumrah bowled 18 overs and took five wickets for 30 runs at an economy rate of 1.67. He got crucial wickets of Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Alex Carey and skipper Pat Cummins.
Now, in 27 Tests in SENA countries, Bumrah has got 118 wickets at an average of 22.55, with best figures of 6/33. he has taken a total of seven five-wicket hauls. He has tied with Kapil (7) and is followed by BS Chandrashekhar, Zaheer Khan (six five-wicket hauls) and Bishan Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble (five five-wicket hauls).
He is the only fifth Indian captain to have a five-wicket haul in Tests, besides Vinoo Mankad (one), Bishan (eight), Kapil (four) and Kumble (two). The last Indian captain to achieve this feat was Kumble (5/84) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 2007. Australia won that match by 337 runs.
Bumrah has had five-wicket hauls in Johannesburg, Melbourne, Nottingham, Northsound, Kingston, Capetown, Bengaluru, Vishakhapatnam and Perth, making him a marvellous all-condition bowler.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. They lost wickets at regular intervals, with KL Rahul (26 in 74 balls, with three fours) being the only batter in the top order who could survive for long. Rishabh Pant (37 in 78 balls, with three fours and a six) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 in 59 balls, with six fours and a six) put on an important 48-run stand for the seventh wicket that took India to 150/10.
Josh Hazlewood was the top wicket-taker for the Aussies, taking 4/29. Skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Alex Carey got two each.
Thanks to a four-wicket haul by Bumrah, Australia ended the day one struggling at 67/7. None of the top six batters could touch the 20-run mark. On day two, Carey (21) and Mitchell Starc (26) crossed the 20-run mark, but the Aussies could manage only 104 runs and got a lead of 46 runs.
Bumrah (5/30) was the start of the show for India, while Harshit Rana (3/48) and Mohammed Siraj (2/20) also bowled really well. (ANI)