Aussie bowler Mitchell Starc predicts more carnage in first Test against India as fans slam Australian capitulation

Pace ace Mitchell Starc predicts the tricky Optus Stadium wicket will only continue to misbehave as Australia’s Border-Gavaskar series opener against India hurtles towards an early finish.

As many as 17 wickets fell on a crazy opening day on Friday, with India dismissed for 150 before leaving Australia at 7-67.

Alex Carey (19 no.) and Starc (6 no.) are key to Australia’s hopes of avoiding a significant first-innings deficit.

Australia are in danger of crashing to their lowest Test score at home since 1984, when the rampant West Indies tossed them for 76 runs.

Jasprit Bumrah (4-17) produced a devastating first spell, eliminating debutant opener Nathan McSweeney (10), Usman Khawaja (eight) and Steve Smith (golden duck).

Inspired by their new leader, debutant pacer Harshit Rana (1-33) and Mohammed Siraj (2-17) delivered further blows to Australia in the final session.

Australian fans did not hold back after the first innings capitulation, calling it embarrassing.

“Most of our top six are in terrible form, our bowlers have been carrying the team for a long time,” one person wrote.

“Our bowlers have overlooked the holes in the batting for a while, we were lucky to win in New Zealand,” agreed another.

“This is what happens when all the emphasis is on cricket in pajama tippity,” wrote another.

Unusual rain in the build-up to the Perth Test had a major impact on wicket preparation.

WA Cricket chief curator Isaac McDonald even predicted the wicket would hold up better than normal as the match progressed.

“As for those big WACA cracks, I don’t think the weather will get us there,” he said two days before the start of the test.

But Starc predicts the opposite after seeing the field begin to crack on the first day.

‘There are some cracks in it. So I can’t imagine it will settle down the longer the game goes on,” Starc said.

Starc said the key for teams now is negotiating the ball while it is at its most difficult.

If they can survive that period, batters have a better chance of scoring runs.

But if the trend from day one continues, the test could be over in three days.

“When the ball started to soften a bit at the end of that Indian innings, it probably didn’t matter that much,” Starc said.

‘There was still plenty in there, but it didn’t do as much as the brand new hard ball.

“So I think that’s something teams need to take into account in the second innings.

‘If you get through the test period, it will become a little easier.

“That said, the outfield is quite slow, so that probably made it difficult to make runs.

“That’s probably the slowest outfield we’ve seen out West in a long time.”

India are now in first place to claim a 1-0 lead in the series, but Starc did not panic over the Australian batting collapse on day one.

“Wickets happen, business as usual, and we’ll come out (on Saturday) and try to get as close to that total as possible,” Starc said.

Australia’s top and middle order will be under immense pressure to perform in the second innings after their meek performance on Friday.

Stand-in India skipper Jasprit Bumrah (4-17 from 10 overs) snapped openers Nathan McSweeney (10) and Usman Khawaja (8), before trapping Steve Smith LBW for a golden duck.

Marnus Labuschagne posted a painfully slow two off 52 balls before his innings was brought to an end by Mohammed Siraj.

Mitch Marsh also fell to Siraj, while Travis Head was clean bowled by Harshit Rana.

The horror collapse leaves Carey tasked with a massive rescue mission and all he has to do is work on the tail end.

A positive omen for Australia is the fact that Carey is in good form, having amassed 452 runs at an average of 90.4 in his three Sheffield Shield matches this season.