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Images from Day 1 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Friday.
IMAGE: Australia pacer Mitchell Starc celebrates with teammates after bagging his sixth wicket in India's first innings on Day 1 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test in Adelaide on Friday. Photograph: ICC/X
Mitchell Starc made the most of a moving pink ball for a career-best six-wicket haul as India flattered to deceive and let Australia hold all the aces on Day 1 of the day-night second Test in Adelaide on Friday.
Opting to bat, India had it under control at 69 for 1 before they lost their way and were all out for 180 at stroke of the dinner break.
A gutsy Nitish Reddy added valuable runs with the lower-order, with a splendid 42 off 54 balls which took India past the 150-run mark.
Australia did well to reach 86 for 1 at stumps, thanks to Marnus Labuschagne (20 batting off 67 balls) and Nathan McSweeney (38 batting off 97).
The conditions were challenging for the batters through the day but the pitch had enough runs for the taking.
The hosts will be backing themselves to surpass India's total on Day 2, considering the easier batting conditions in daylight.
Labuschagne, fighting for his place in the side, once again took a long time, 19 balls to be specific, to get off the mark, but then found ways to score runs.
McSweeney was dropped by Rishabh Pant early in his innings and he rode that luck to frustrate the opposition.
Birthday boy Jasprit Bumrah was once again the best Indian bowler on show and picked up the only wicket to fall in Australia's innings, having Usman Khawaja caught at first slip with a beauty.
The Indian pace spearhead will need more support from his fellow-pacers on Saturday.
In the second session, Starc made the pink ball talk as he registered his maiden five-wicket haul against India.
IMAGE: Mitchell Starc exults after dismissing India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal leg before wicket with the first delivery of the match. Photograph: ICC/X
Having reduced the visitors to 82 for 4 at tea, Australia took the remaining six wickets at the cost of 98 runs before the dinner break was taken.
Starc sizzled with his trademark inswingers to remove Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana while Pat Cummins used the short ball effectively.
Rohit Sharma (3 off 23), batting in the middle order after six years, was trapped in front by Scott Boland with a ball that jagged back from a length.
Pant (21 off 35) played his trademark aggressive game before falling to a sharp bouncer from Cummins.
Reddy, who impressed on his debut in Perth, added much-needed runs to the total alongside number eight Ashwin (22 off 22), who replaced Washington Sundar in the playing eleven.
Seeing the wickets falling at the other end, Reddy went for his shots and that included a couple of sensational sixes off Starc and Boland to take the total past 150.
He first dispatched a wide ball from Starc over extra cover before reverse scooping Boland for a maximum over the slip cordon. Four balls later, Reddy pulled Boland for another six.
In the first session, it was Starc who landed timely blows as India squandered a promising start to reach 82 for four at tea.
Starc removed opener K L Rahul (37 off 64 balls) and Virat Kohli (7 off 8 balls) in quick succession to turn the tide in Australia's favour. That was after a 69-run stand between Rahul and Shubman Gill (31 off 51).
It got worse for India when Boland had a well-set Gill plumb in front with a full ball on the stumps. In a remarkable of turn events, India lost their last three wickets for 12 runs.
It was a rather dramatic start to the proceedings after India opted to bat on a pitch with decent grass cover.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who played a knock to remember in his opening Test in Perth, was out first ball as he missed a fuller one from Starc that swung back just enough to be adjudged leg before wicket.
Gill, coming back to the side after recovering from a thumb injury, batted with supreme confidence while Rahul changed gears after taking 21 balls to get off the mark.
Four out of five fours from Gill's bat came off Starc with the highlights being an off-drive and a cover drive off the left-arm pacer.
Rahul, at the other end, would have gone back without scoring had Boland not overstepped on the first ball of his spell. Known for relentlessly attacking the off-stump, Boland induced a faint outside edge from Rahul's bat. The batter was walking immediately but soon it was adjudged a no-ball.
India were on course for a productive first session until Starc got rid of Rahul and Kohli in successive overs with short of length balls that rose sharply on the batters to have them caught in the slips.
Gill was the last one to be dismissed in the session as he missed an attempted flick off Boland to be trapped in front.
India made three changes, with Rohit, Gill and Ashwin returning to the playing eleven, in place of Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar.