Live: Australia needs a miracle as it stares down heavy defeat in first Test

It’s a classic Steve Smith dismissal — short of a good length, on a fifth stump line and Smith gets a feather through to the wicketkeeper.

Rishabh Pant hangs on, and Australia is five wickets down.

Mitch Marsh walks out. Things could happen quickly here.

He slaps hard down the ground, but doesn’t get all of it and that’s just a single.

Another easy single for Travis Head, who moves to 44.

Sundar is getting a little extra bounce and Smith is just keeping him out.

BANG! Head has a look at a wide half-volley and treats it with the disdain it deserves. Four more.

Head steals a single and Smith just defends the rest of the over.

Smith takes a single off the first ball. I don’t think Sundar will mind. I reckon he’d rather bowl to the leftie head.

Head slaps another one. He’s moved to 38 pretty rapidly. Tough to stop once he gets going.

India’s captain arrived in Perth yesterday, and he’s just been spied in the Indian rooms.

Four more! Wide and full, and crushed to the cover boundary by Head. Typically slashing a long way away from his body. Not afraid to play his shots.

A play and miss outside off by Head. This one was close to him and he tried a Phillip Hughes-esque carve behind point, but was beaten by the bounce.

Edged! But he’s very lucky to survive. Harshit Rana bangs it in short and finds the shoulder of Head’s bat, but it clears the slips.

Two more runs. And a no ball. Rana is getting frustrated.

He’s a handy spinner, but this is very early for him to be bowling against these two. A real challenge, game situation notwithstanding, for Sundar.

Short, wide and cracked through cover with a cross-bat slog by Travis Head.

Four! Big sweep shot through the air from Head. It’s a pretty safe shot with only the deep backward square leg even vaguely in the vicinity. But it’s too square for him and takes one bounce over the rope.

Oh that’s risen sharply and almost takes his bottom glove off.

Smith drives hard down the ground, but doesn’t quite time it and mid-off gets around to cut it off.

He slashes wide and the ball squirts behind point. Smith didn’t get all of it — the bat twisted in his hands a bit — and the lush outfield means it’s just two runs.

He’s got left-hander Travis Head in his sights.

Head goes the big attacking sweep shot and the ball balloons up behind square leg for a leg bye.

Smith pushes a ball down the ground for an easy single and that’s the 50 up for Australia! Depressingly, that is a genuine milestone accomplishment for this innings.

I think Smith will be grateful to see the spinner into the attack.

BIG APPEAL! That looked pretty good to me! Might have kept a little bit low.

With three seconds left on the clock, Bumrah reviews.

The angle might work against Rana here, it is coming across a long way and hits on the leg side part of the pad…

Yes, missing. Good decision from the umpire.

Smith does really well to jam the bat down on a ball that doesn’t really get up that much. This bounce, or lack of it, will be increasingly tough for the batters to handle.

Good, solid defence now from Smith. Rana was just a touch full, arrowing in at the stumps.

Another good defensive shot from Smith, but he’s just getting a little bit square up by Rana at the moment – he needs to go back to that footwork we saw at the start of the day.

Smith clips the ball off his pads through mid on for a single.

Head fronts up now, and gets a ball off the inside edge to fly away to square leg for a single.

Time for a drink – after that, Jon Healy will take you through to lunch.

Time for some spin – Washington Sundar is coming into the attack.

Sundar probes at the stumps, Smith defends solidly with a decent stride down the pitch.

There is a patch of rough that Sundar is looking to hit – Lyon was making great use of it in India’s second innings. It’s right next to a growing crack as well.

Smith is forward though, defending again.

Smith leaves that one, a big stride from Smith – a well-judged leave because the ball just missed that rough.

Smith clips to the man at bat pad, who can’t field it and they take a single.

Smith defends solidly.

Catching fielder at short midwicket for Smith, but Rana strays onto Smith’s feet and he clips away for a single to fine leg.

FOUR! Head has belted that one, a stunning, expansive drive from Travis Head through cover point for a boundary. Lovely shot. There is a fielder at cover point and he leaped out the way just in time…

BEATEN! That’s a good response from Rana. And then a follow up chat between the debutant and Travis Head.

Head clips away off his pads and gets a couple more.

Solid defence from Head.

Off the inside edge of Head’s bat, into his pad.

Head defends solidly now.

FOUR! That’s a great shot from Travis Head, a full-blooded drive through cover. That’s the first boundary of the innings for Australia.

Solid defence.

CLOSE! Head looks to flick a bouncer over the top of the slips but doesn’t make contact. That was a no ball.

Solid defence from Head to end the over.

Head pushes into the off side, getting a single. Quite an easy one in truth.

Two slips for Smith, a gully and a point, the ball flies off the outside edge and gets a couple past those slips.

That’s a great shot, clipping the ball off his pads out to midwicket and they run a couple. Smith looks very nice out there at the moment.

BANG! Got him! Right in the ribs.

Smith is down for the count!

“Come on Steve, there’s padding there son,” Head tells Smith as he lies, prone on the turf.

Not likely – that’s right in the ribs. Nasty.

Smith picks himself up to beat the count, and then defends the next delivery.

Solid defence to end the over.

Smith is still sucking in the big ones there.

Lovely, back-foot punch for Head, out to deep extra cover. They end up running four. This outfield is still so slow.

CLOSE! What a ball! That’s just got the inside edge before cannoning into the pads.

BIG APPEAL! SIRAJ IS OFF! He’s not even bothering appealing. He probably should turn round, where the umpire is unmoved. That was Stuart Broad-like in that appeal’s celebratory nature.

Siraj, understandably given his reaction, wants to review this.

Looks like it’s going down leg to me. Might be clipping.

Clipping it is, and it’s umpires call.

Head pushes into the covers and gets a single.

Smith leaves outside off.

Smith defends the last into the on side for no run.

He had 3-48 in the first innings off 15.2 overs.

Smith watches the first ball from the tall New Delhi man pass by outside off.

Rana tightens his line up and Smith defends.

Smith swings hard but doesn’t make contact enough to get the ball away through midwicket.

BIG APPEAL! Very leg side though and India would be wise not to pursue this further.

BEATEN! That was a beauty! Smith plays it relatively well, inside the line, but that ball swung in a bit and only missed the edge by a whisker.

Bit of inswing from Siraj, Smith is very watchful so far this morning and he defends that out to mid off. No run.

Another good ball, Siraj is getting the ball to sing and his close fielders chatter as Smith defends off the inside edge of the bat.

BEATEN! That’s a terrific ball for Siraj, a straight one outside off and Smith just plays inside the line.

Smith pulls to deep backward square leg and picks up a single.

There is a catching cover for Head, who defends solidly down in front of himself to end the over.

Three slips, a gully and a point, Smith fends to cover and takes a quick single. That’s what India’s batters did so well in their lengthy second innings, kept the strike rotating. It’s important Australia does that today.

Head now clips off his pads and takes a couple to backward square leg.

Head square drives to point, who is a bit further back for him than he is for Smith.

Head defends solidly the last couple.