Follow UsAustralia have been on the backfoot in the Perth Test ever since they stepped out to bat on the first day. Jasprit Bumrah blew away their top order along with Mohammed Siraj in the first innings, and then both Indian pacers did the same in the hosts' second innings during the closing hours of the third day.
While Australia were 31/4 in the first innings, they could only score 17 runs before they lost their top four batters in the second. As a result, Usman Khawaja (8 & 4), Nathan McSweeney (10 & 0), Marnus Labuschagne (2 & 3), Steve Smith (0, and now batting at five in the second innings) and Pat Cummins (who scored 2 as a night watchman in the second innings) could only score 29 runs combined.
This is not only a poor record for this Test, but it is also the worst-ever performance by their top four batters across two innings of a Test match in Australia's 177-year history of playing Test cricket.
What’s more concerning is that five out of these eight dismissals have been LBW, which is a rarity for a bouncy pitch like Perth, where getting dismissed caught by the keeper or the slip cordon is the most common mode of dismissal. Bumrah and Siraj brought the stumps into play a lot more often and were aided by the pace and seam movement of the pitch as they ran through the top four on both occasions.
What’s fascinating is that the next three lowest scores collectively made by the Australian top four came in 1888, just 11 years after the first Test was played between England and Australia in 1877.
With the next Test being a pink ball Test in Adelaide, the challenges won’t be easy for the Australian top four, who have struggled massively in this Test.
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