Australia vs India 2018-19: Is 326 enough on this wicket?
Australia got out for 326 in the first innings of Perth Test match, 326 seems to be an average score, but, is it enough on this pitch?
The way Australia started off it appeared that they will score a lot more than 326, but, once they lost their openers, the fragile Australian middle order was exposed once again and they lost some quick wickets. Having said that, they recovered well to score 326.
Looking at Indian bowling, they bowled poorly during the first hour of the play on the first day which allowed Australian openers to get away easily. Having said that, it appears India missed a trick by not playing Bhuvneshwar Kumar on a wicket which has a lot swing and seam movement. Bhuvneshwar Kumar would have been really handy on this wicket and he would have been India's best bet to exploit these conditions.
But, that was not to be, also, Indian bowlers bowled a tad short on this wicket, perhaps getting carried away with the bounce on offer. Bhuvneshwar has a reputation of pitching the ball up, which again, would have produced the desired results for India.
Taking into account the swing and seam movement on offer, this wicket is certainly not a 326 wicket. It appears that India might have allowed Australia to score about 75 runs more than the par score and in all probability, this would haunt India when they go out to bat during their first innings of the Test.
Hazlewood, in particular, will be difficult to play on this wicket, he has the knack of sticking to the fourth stump line outside off and after looking at the mistakes made by Indian bowlers, Australian bowlers would be looking to pitch the ball up and allow the pitch to do the rest.
With Australia getting a total which is more than handy on this wicket, now India has all the catching up to do. Looking at the current form of Indian batsmen, it seems to be a daunting task for India.