Australia’s Todd Murphy set a rare record of 141 by taking the first five wickets against India in the Border-Gavaskar opener.
If the opening day of the action-packed Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener was all about Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling masterclass, Australia’s Todd Murphy rose to the limelight by staging an epic comeback for the visitors in Nagpur on Friday. Murphy made his Test debut alongside India’s Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat in the 1st Test of the four-match series. A breakthrough on Day 2 of the encounter saw Baggy lead the Greens’ bowling attack on the Nagpur pitch and the Aussies in the first innings at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
Murphy’s selection paid off for Australia as he picked up crucial wickets of KL Rahul (20), Cheteshwar Pujara (7), Virat Kohli (12), Srikar Bharat (8) and Ravichandran Ashwin (23) in the 1st Test of four. – Competitive streak. Murphy rewrote history in the oldest and longest format of the game by posting a remarkable record of 141 years against Rohit Sharma’s Team India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener in Nagpur.
Murphy joined the likes of Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to take five wickets for the first time in a list of Australian players who took five wickets on his first international appearance to become Fiffer’s 35th. Murphy also became the first Australian spinner since 1882 to take five wickets before his 23rd birthday.
The 22-year-old is the youngest Australian spinner to take 5 wickets on his Test debut. Murphy is one of four spinners named in Australia’s Test squad for the high-profile series against hosts India. Murphy had only played seven first-class matches before making his Test debut in the series opener between Australia and India on Thursday.
India captain Rohit, who bowled out Australia for 177 runs in the first innings under the inspiration of Ravindra Jadeja, scored a stunning century on Day 2 of the Nagpur Test. Veteran opener Rohit became the first Indian captain to score centuries in all three formats of the game. The veteran batsman scored 120 off 212 balls in India’s first innings at Nagpur. All-rounder Jadeja hit a brilliant half-century to deliver the goods with the bat as India extended their lead to over 100 before the end of the day’s play in Nagpur.