Border-Gavaskar Trophy | Australia make pink ball experience talk

Australian batters finished the day at a comfortable 86/1, cutting India's lead to 94, after having bowled out the visitors for 180.

Adelaide: India presumably had the best of conditions to bat as Rohit Sharma won a rare toss and did what most captains do in a day/night match. That apart, little went right for India for the next six and half hours as Mitchell Starc (6/48) conjured up best bowling in an innings, sending visiting batters scurrying for cover.

Castigated for their inept performance in the Perth Test, Australian batters appeared more purposeful while finishing the day at a commanding 86/1, cutting India's lead to 94, on the opening day of the second of the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy here at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. 

 Usman Khawaja fell after an early promise but Nathan McSweeney (38 batting), who had a forgettable debut in Perth, fought early nerves to grow in confidence. The much-maligned Marnus Labuschagne survived some anxious moments to remain unbeaten on 20, having stitched an unbroken 62-run partnership for the second wicket.

In pink ball Tests, as records suggest, day time is the best phase to bat and nights are the best times to bow. India, who went with R Ashwin while excluding Washington Sundar, batted in day and bowled under lights, but failed to capitalise on both occasions. It all boiled down to Australia's pink-ball experience which thoroughly exposed India's inadequacies. The swing had them in knots while the extra bounce left them with few answers.

The bowling was good; perhaps should have had at least another wicket, but it was obvious they couldn't exercise the same control over the ball as the Aussies did.  

Starc set the tone for Australia's dominance by trapping last-Test centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw with the first ball of the match. The inswinging full ball was too good a delivery to face first up in the afternoon and he didn't even review the on-field decision after a brief discussion with KL Rahul (37, 64b, 6x4) who rode his luck a while before Starc put an end to his stay.

Rahul was caught at slip off Scott Boland when he was still to open his account, but the right-arm quick had overstepped giving the batter the first lease of "life". The opener finally got off the mark with a flicked couple off the next ball, which was his 21st, but was again dropped at slip by Usman Khawaja in the next ball in an eventful first Test over by the "Cult Hero" in more than 16 months.           

At the other end, Shubman Gill (31, 51b, 5x4) looked in sublime touch, essaying glorious drives and manufacturing risky but productive cuts and slashes. Through Rahul's uncertainty and Gill's authority India somehow appeared to have gotten out of the jail at 69/1 when Starc returned to trigger mini collapse. Having struggled against the steep bounce from the back of length, Rahul perished while edging one from the left-arm quick. Virat Kohli was the next to fall in similar fashion.

Boland finally had a reward for his consistency when Gill missed the ball while attempting a flick and had the fuller ball thud his pad. Again, an easy decision to make. The lunch would have been less palatable for the Indians at 82/4.

Their situation turned worse when Rohit Sharma was dismissed soon after resumption with Boland again on the target. Rishabh Pant's resistance was cut short by Pat Cummins before India built another decent stand between Nitish Reddy (42 off 54 balls, 3x4, 3x6) and Ashwin (22 off 22 balls, 3x4). The right-handed duo shed caution and looked for scoring opportunities and were none the worse for it after gathering 30 runs. Cummins once again summoned his trump card and he wasn't disappointed. Starc caught Ashwin plumb in front with another inswinging ball. Nitish's all-out aggression after that yielded some quick runs but never enough with Starc ending his adventure for his and innings' final wicket. 

SCORE BOARD:

INDIA (I Innings):

Jaiswal lbw Starc 0

(1b)

Rahul c McSweeney b Starc 37

(64b, 6x4)

Gill lbw Boland 31

(51b, 5x4)

Kohli c Smith b Starc 7

(8b, 1x4)

Pant c Labuschagne b Cummins 21

(35b, 2x4)

Rohit lbw Boland 3
(23b)

Nitish c Head b Starc 42

(54b, 3x4, 3x6)

Ashwin lbw Starc 22
(22b, 3x4)

Rana b Starc 0

(3b)

Bumrah c Khawaja b Cummins 0

(8b)

Siraj (not out) 4

(3b, 1x4)

Extras (LB-5, NB-7, W-1) 13

Total (all out, 44.1 overs) 180

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jaiswal), 2-69 (Rahul), 3-77 (Kohli), 4-81 (Gill), 5-87 (Rohit), 6-109 (Pant), 7-141 (Ashwin), 8-141 (Rana), 9-178 (Bumrah).

Bowling: Starc 14.1-2-48-6 (w-1, nb-2), Cummins 12-4-41-2, Boland 13-0-54-2 (nb-3), Lyon 1-0-6-0, Marsh 4-0-26-0 (nb-2).

AUSTRALIA (I Innings):

Khawaja c Rohit b Bumrah 13
(35b, 2x4)

McSweeney (batting) 38

(97b, 6x4)

Labuschagne (batting) 20

(67b, 3x4)

Extras (B-13, LB-1, NB-1) 15

Total (all out, 33 overs) 86

Fall of wicket: 1-24 (Khawaja).

Bowling: Bumrah 11-4-13-1, Siraj 10-3-29-0, Rana 8-2-18-0, Nitish 3-1-12-0, R Ashwin 1-1-0-0.