Head out for 89 as India inch closer to famous win

PERTH: India stood on the cusp of their biggest victory on Australian soil after reducing the hosts to 227 for 8 at tea on day four of the first Test here on Monday.

Skipper Jasprit Bumrah (3/42) and Mohammed Siraj (3/54) did most of the damage on the fourth day while Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy played the support act to perfection with a wicket apiece.

India had set Australia a mammoth 534-run target on day three.

The in-form Travis Head (89) was dismissed by Bumrah with a delivery that was pitched on length and just kept on climbing as the batter went on a compulsive drive only to edge it behind stumps. Bumrah's exalted celebration said it all.

Mitchell Marsh (47) was also batting well before Reddy capped a good Test match with a delivery that didn't give the batter enough room to cut and the inside edge was dragged on to the stumps.

Australia's most dependable batter in this WTC cycle Alex Carey (30 batting) kept frustrating the visitors but Washington removed Mitchell Starc (12) at stroke of tea to take India closer to a famous win.

In the morning, Siraj bowled a couple of incisive spells to remove the seasoned Usman Khawaja (4) and out-of-form Steven Smith (17).

Khawaja's mistimed pull off Siraj was well taken by IPL's three million dollar man Rishabh Pant running backwards.

But then India's new nemesis Head started counter-punching in the presence of Smith, who was trying his best to dig in with desperation to come out of his current rut.

However Siraj, who had poor series against New Zealand at home, was all over the Australian batters on a pitch that has 'misbehaved' considerably with variable bounce coming into play.

If Khawaja was disposed with a delivery that got big on the southpaw opener, Smith got a delivery that was pitched on perfect length and deviated enough to kiss his outside edge as Pant completed the formalities diving to his right ending a 62-run stand.

Smith and Marnus Labuschagne's dip in form during this World Test Championship cycle is a major cause of concerns for the hosts.

Smith, in fact, did away with his trigger movement towards the off-stump. knowing fully well that he could be a leg before candidate whenever Indian bowlers attack the stumps on a pitch with variable bounce.

Head, who got a beauty from Harshit Rana in the first innings, knew that survival wasn't an option on a deteriorating track and he didn't let the loose balls go unpunished as anything pitched up was driven and the short ones were cut disdainfully.

His fifty came with a perfect ramp over the keeper's head and needed only 63 balls to achieve that feat.