IND vs AUS: Todd Murphy gets five-wicket haul on debut

With the wicket of Srikar Bharat in his 27th over, Murphy became only the sixth bowler to pick five wickets on debut in India.

Australian bowler Todd Murphy celebrates the wicket of Indian batter Virat Kohli. | Photo Credit: PTI

Australia’s Todd Murphy bagged a five wicket haul on debut against India in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday in Nagpur.

With the wicket of Srikar Bharat in his 27th over, Murphy became only the sixth bowler to pick five wickets on debut in India after Lance Klusner, Jason John Krejza, John Lever, Bruce Taylor and Yasar Arafat.

On day one, India was in pole position to take the game away from the Aussies but Murphy stepped up to dismiss KL Rahul for 20, right before close of play.

The men in blue continued to dominate on day two, with skipper Rohit Sharma and night watchman Ravichandran Ashwin in the middle. The duo put on a 42-run stand that threatened to take the game away from Pat Cummin’s men.

But Murphy persisted, bowling the right lengths, to send Ashwin packing for a 62-ball 23.

The 22-year-old went on to create fruther inroads for his side, scalping Cheteshwar Pujara (7) and Virat Kohli (12) cheaply to bring some parity into the match.

Apart from Murphy’s exploits, his spin companion Nathan Lyon chipped in with a peach of a delivery to remove the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav (8) and Rohit (120) fell to Cummins after making a brilliant century.