Australia Crushes India For 161 On Day One At Perth

Perth: A familiar batting collapse saw Australia bundle out India for a paltry 161, a few minutes after tea, on the first day of the third cricket Test at WACA, here on Friday. It took only 32 balls and 17 runs into the final session for the visitors to lose their last four wickets and end up with a mere 161 runs on the board.

Virat Kohli (44) was the top-scorer as the star-studded batting line-up yet again failed miserably. The likes of Virender Sehwag (0), Rahul Dravid (9), Sachin Tendulkar (15), Gautam Gambhir (31) and VVS Laxman (31) all failed to make any significant contribution to the team`s cause.

Ben Hilfenhaus (4/43), Peter Siddle (3/42), Mitchell Starc (2/39) and Ryan Harris (1/33) shared the spoils. While Hilfenhaus accounted for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12) and Zaheer Khan (2), Starc sent Vinay Kumar (5) and Ishant Sharma (3) back to the pavilion.

The final session began with Dhoni clouting two fours in the opening over by Hilfenhaus. But Starc then claimed Vinay Kumar from the other end for five and the innings unfolded quickly.

Dhoni defended a Hilfenhaus delivery with an angled bat and edged a straightforward catch to Ricky Ponting at second slip. Zaheer Khan tried to hit his way out of trouble but it was only worth two runs as he edged another catch into the slips, this time Michael Clarke at first slip no mistake.

Starc wrapped up the Indian innings when he got one to lift as poor Ishant Sharma could only edge it to Brad Haddin behind the stumps.