The Australian batsmen came up with a fine performance to finish on top on Day 1 of the third Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), on Thursday. The Indians have managed to claim just a couple of wickets, while the overcast conditions seem to be doing them no favour, as of now. Meanwhile, we take a look at the records produced during the day.
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A first since 1985-86: The very Test saw David Warner and Will Pucovski opening the innings for Australia, while Joe Burns and Matthew Wade had done the same in the last Test. It happened to be the first instance since 1985-86 that Australia moved in with four different opening batsman in a Test series. In 1985-86, it was Andrew Hilditch and Kepler Wessels, followed by Robbie Kerr and Wayne Phillips, against New Zealand.
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A first since 2011-12: In another first in a long time, Cameron Green (21 years and 197 days) and Will Pucovski (22 years and 339 days) became the two U-23 debutants in a Test series for Australia. The last such instance happened in 2011-12, against New Zealand, when Mitchell Starc (21 years and 305 days) and James Pattinson (21 years and 212 days) had made their debuts.
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Navdeep Saini scripts a unique on debut: Pacer Saini, who was making his debut in this game, has so far managed to claim the only wicket of a fellow debutant, Will Pucovski. As a result, he became the fifth Indian bowler to dismiss a debutant for his maiden Test wicket. The others happen to be Vijay Hazare, Sadashiv Shinde, Arshad Ayub and Zaheer Khan. Also, this was the first instance of an Indian debutant dismissing a debutant batsman, who has scored 50-plus.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, Australian skipper, Tim Pane, elected to bat first. The Australians were off to a rusty start, with opener David Warner falling for mere five. Nonetheless, it was the pair of Pucovski and Marnus Labuschagne, whose 100-run stand helped Australia consolidate, while the former fell for 62, as Australia is 1662 in a rain-interrupted day.Brief scores: Australia 1662 (Pucovski 62, Labuschagne 67*, Saini 132) vs India.
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