Khawaja puts Aussies in charge

Opener slams first ton in India as tourists finish Day 1 at 255/4

The Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium was an amphitheatre of a strange mix of political showmanship and sporting spectacle. Ahead of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy series Test here on a muggy Thursday, the prime ministers of both India and Australia - Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese - presented caps to skippers Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma and met the members of both teams before taking a lap of the ground in a customised golf cart with thousands of spectators greeting them en route.

Thanks to the presence of the two leaders and events arranged in their honour, including a song-and-dance sequence, the toss was delayed by five minutes, perhaps the first such incident in recent decades for reasons other than inclement weather. Australia weren't complaining, though, for Smith potentially may have won the most crucial toss of the series.

Unlike the previous three strips, which generously aided turn with variable bounce, this one played slow with little on offer by way of movement. On inarguably the best batting surface of the series, Australia ended the day on a comfortable 255/4 in 90 overs with Usman Khawaja leading the charge with an unbeaten 104 (251b, 15x4), which was also his 14th Test ton and first in India.

The opener added 85 runs (116b) with a refreshingly positive Cameron Green (49 n.o.) for the unbroken fifth wicket to successfully snatch back the momentum that had shifted India's way following the dismissals of Smith and Peter Handscomb in the space of 19 runs.

Bowlers can ill afford to be wayward and fielders have to be on high alert for chances are hard to come by on such slow trundlers. India lacked discipline both at the start and towards the end of the day with the new ball while KS Bharat grassed a sitter, which could have sent Travis Head (32, 7x4) on his individual score of seven. Australia were 23/0 at that time and by the time Head departed, they had moved to 72.

Though the wicket was flat, batsmen had to manufacture shots because of the slowness of the surface. After conceding some easy runs in the initial hour, the Indians pulled things back stemming the free flow of runs. Head decided to continue the attacking play after the first drinks interval but didn't reach the pitch of the ball even after stepping out to R Ashwin.

The southpaw ended up offering a simple catch to Ravindra Jadeja at mid-on. India conceded no more than three runs in the next nine overs as teams went for lunch with Australia 75/2 after Mohammed Shami had forced Marnus Labuschagne to play on.

Khawaja and Smith then rebuilt the innings although runs came in a trickle. With the ball going soft, coupled with the slowness of the pitch, playing shots wasn't easy but the two senior pros were ready for the hard grind. Against the run of play, however, Smith lost his wicket after playing on a harmless delivery by Jadeja, ending the second most productive association (79 off 248 balls) of the innings. Peter Handscomb paid the price for staying deep and down the leg as the right-hander failed to cover a Shami's good length ball on the off-stump.

With Australia down 170/4, India were on equal footing but the second new ball, summoned after the 81st over, tilted the balance in favour of the tourists. Green and Khawaja plundered 54 runs in the next nine overs as Indian pacers' efforts to bounce the batsmen out failed spectacularly.