India create new history with series opener Perth win

India started their 2024-25 Australia tour with a dominant victory in the five-match Test series opener at the Perth Stadium. With this win, India set up a new Test history.

Chasing down the whopping 534 runs target, Australia were all out for 238 runs. India started the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 with a 295-run win. It was Australia’s first Test defeat at the Perth Stadium, which had won all the previous four Tests by at least 140 runs margins. 

Test records: Winning and losing margins 

It was India’s largest Test victory margin by runs in Australia. Their previous record was winning by 222 runs during the 1977 Melbourne Test. On the other hand, it was Australia's second-largest home Test defeat by runs in the 21st century (the seventh-biggest home Test loss by runs overall), after losing the 2012 WACA Test by 309 runs against South Africa. 

Meanwhile, it was also India's third-largest Test win by runs outside India and the largest in the SENA countries. Their top two victory records outside India were winning by 318 runs against West Indies in the 2019 North Sound Test and 304 runs against Sri Lanka in the 2017 Galle Test. 

Also, it was India’s second-largest Test victory margin by runs against Australia. Their record Test-winning margin against Australia is 320 runs during the 2008 Mohali Test.

The Day 4 battles

Starting the fourth day of the five-match Test series opener at 12/3, hosts Australia lost the opener Usman Khawaja (4) on the seventh ball of the day. Mohammed Siraj set up the first short ball of the day for the opener as Khawaja's pull shot skied the ball high, and the wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant grabbed a good catch.

Steven Smith and Travis Head had a 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Siraj's beauty delivery found a thick outside edge of Smith's bat, and Pant took a good catch to dismiss Smith for 17 runs. 

Head and Mitchell Marsh then built an 82-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Head completed his fifty for 63 balls with the help of six fours. However, the stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah once again did his job by dismissing Head for 89 off 101 balls (eight fours) in his new spell.

Later, the Test debutant all-rounder Nitish Reddy bowled Mitchell Marsh, who dragged the ball on the stumps after scoring 47 off 67 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. 

Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc added a 45-run partnership for the eighth wicket before Washington Sundar dismissed Mitchell Starc (12), thanks to a great catch by the short-leg fielder Dhruv Jurel. While that dismissal made the tea break on, Sundar completed that over after the tea break as Nathan Lyon was bowled for a duck. 

It was just a matter of time before the visitors set a memorable win in the five-match Test series opener, and Harshit Rana took the last wicket as the wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey was bowled after scoring 36 off 58 balls with the help of two fours.

Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed a fifer (5/30) during the hosts' first innings of the match, took three wickets in the last innings (3/42) and deservingly won the Player of the Match award. Mohammed Siraj bagged three wickets in the fourth innings (3/51) after picking up two wickets (2/20) in the previous innings, and debutant Harshit Rana got (3/48 and 1/69) four wickets in total. Also, Washington Sundar had two wickets (2/48), and Nitish Kumar Reddy got a wicket (1/21) in the fourth innings of the match.

India return on top of the ICC WTC points table

This giant Test win has helped India to return to the top place of the points table in the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship points table, where they have the PCT of 61.11. Meanwhile, the second-placed Australia have slipped to second place, and their PCT has gone down to less than 60 (57.69).