Australia vs India 2018: Proud of the Lower Order Fight - Tim Paine

Australia’s captain Tim Paine is proud of the fight his lower order batsman came up with, in the first Test match against India. The hosts came up a valiant effort to keep the Indian bowlers at bay. Thus, it was humdinger contest as India won by the skin of their teeth by 31 runs. Pat Cummins led Australia’s charge as he batted for 121 balls for 28 runs. Furthermore, Mitchell Starc also looked dangerous as he scored 28 runs from 44 balls.

Starc was taking on the attack to the Indian bowlers and thus was taking the game away. In fact, Nathan Lyon roared like a Lion as the right-hander gave a run for the money to the Indian bowlers. The right-hander who had scored an unbeaten knock of 24 runs in the first innings, gave jitters to the Indian team as he scored 38 from 47 balls in the second dig to take Australia close to the target of 323. Lyon received good support from Josh Hazlewood who played 43 balls to get 13 runs.

It was a nail-biter.

Tim Paine said in the post-match presentation, “It’s pretty shattering really. Proud of the fight from the lower order. A well-deserved win for India. We thought we could win, no doubt about that, but our batters couldn’t bat for long enough with our tail”.

“We saw how the pitch is playing and told ourselves we are gonna dig deep, but unfortunately, myself, Travis and Shaun couldn’t bat long as long as we should have. That’s (Pujara’s innings) the difference between the two sides. Really hard to get him (Pujara) out. We gotta cope with the belief that we can win this Test series, we just need someone in our top six to go big. My finger is fine”.

Australian tail was able to show great resistance as they gave a tough time to the Indian bowlers. It was a perfect exhibition of Test match cricket as both teams brought their best to the table.

Cheteshwar Pujara was the hero for the Indian team as he scored runs in both the innings. He scored a total of 194 runs. Thus, it was a fine effort from the visitors to go 1-0 up in the series.

India and Australia will lock horns in the second match at Perth from December 14.