India vs Australia: Numbers paint a grim picture for Virat Kohli & Co.

An India scoreboard being operated during the Australia Test series earlier this year (File Photo/AP)

Josh Hazlewood took five for eight as Australia romped to an emphatic victory by eight wickets inside three days in the first test at Adelaide Oval on Saturday after skittling India for 36, their lowest innings score in 88 years of Test cricket.

Hazlewood and Pat Cummins (4-21) turned a tight test on its head in a devastating spell of pace bowling to open the third day of the day-night test, ripping through the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up in less than two hours.

Australia chased down the victory target of 90 runs for the loss of Matthew Wade (33) and Marnus Labuschagne (6) to take a 1-0 lead in the series with Tests to come in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

India have compiled their lowest total in a men’s Test innings (36); in addition, it is also the joint-lowest team total in the format on Australian soil (also 36 by South Africa v Australia, February 1932 in Melbourne)

Subscriber Only Stories

View All

With ‘Atharva: The Origin’ starring MS Dhoni, Pratilipi Comic...

UPSC Essentials: Weekly news express with MCQs— SC’s abortion rulin...

How European colonisers observed and documented Durga Puja celebrations i...

Useless meetings waste time and $100 million a year for big companies

Prices start as low as Rs 2.5 per day

This is the first time in 26 Tests India have lost when Virat Kohli had won the toss.

This is also the 35th time India lost the first Test of a series (2+ Tests) outside Asia – they ended up losing the series in 31 of those with three ending in a draw.

No batsman reaching double figures in an innings. The highest score was 9 by Mayank Agarwal.

Lowest totals for India (Tests):
36 vs Aus Adelaide 2020 *
42 vs Eng Lord’s 1974
58 vs Aus Brisbane 1947
58 vs Eng Manchester 1952
66 vs SA Durban 1996
67 vs Aus Melbourne 1948

Lowest totals in Test cricket:
26 NZ v Eng Auckland 1955
30 SA v Eng Port Elizabeth 1896
30 SA v Eng Edgbaston 1924
35 SA v Eng Cape Town 1899
36 Aus v Eng Edgbaston 1902
36 SA v Aus Melbourne 1932
36 Ind v Aus Adelaide 2020 *
38 Ire v Eng Lord’s 2019

LISTEN | Decoding the great Indian batting collapse in Adelaide

Lowest scores at Adelaide Oval:

20 – Gold Coast (2017)
26 – Western Bulldogs (2018)
29 – Essendon (2020)
33 – Adelaide (2020)
34 – Fremantle (2019)
35 – Adelaide (2020)
35 – North Melbourne (2020)
36 – India (2020)

First published on: 19-12-2020 at 04:31:01 pm