Mitchell Starc removed Prithvi Shaw with the second delivery of the first Test as Australia took the first session of the day-night contest against India in Adelaide on Thursday. At the dinner-break, India were 41/2 after losing both their openers cheaply.
Virat Kohli won a good toss and opted to bat first despite the cloud cover but Shaw, who many opined was a surprise selection considering his form, was bowled after an inside edge crashed onto the stumps. He walked back for a two-ball duck.
Cheteshwar Pujara walked in at No.3 in the very first over and began doing what he does best – building an innings and tiring out bowlers. Together with Mayank Agarwal, he steadily began the repair job.
The first boundary came quite late, in the 10th over even as few edges landed short with Australia pacers coming close to striking again.
Pat Cummins then produced a peach of a delivery as snuck one through the gap to have Agarwal bowled for 17 with India losing their second wicket for 32. That meant Kohli walked in to join Pujara in the middle.
When the session came to a close, Pujara was batting on 17 off 88 while Kohli was on five off 22.
Starc (1/17), Cummins (1/3) and Josh Hazlewood (0/16) kept a tight line and didn’t allow any of the India batters to open up and play strokes freely. While the scorecard may suggest a complete Australian domination but the India batters didn’t look that jittery and in fact, did well to stave off the nervy phase.
However, it was the brilliance of the pacers that handed the hosts the first session.
Brief Scores: India 41/2 (Cheteshwar pujara 17*; Mitchel Starc 1/17, Pat Cummins 1/3) vs Australia