Australia lost opener Usman Khawaja but won the first-day honors after Mitchell Starc’s onslaught bowled India out for 180 in the day-night second Test in Adelaide on Friday.
At the end, the hosts were 86-1 with Nathan McSweeney on 38 not out from 97 balls and Marence Libeschen on 20 when the visitors were dismissed at tea after winning the toss and electing to bat.
A dangerous stark was India’s greatest destroyer.
He gave the hosts a dream start by removing Yashvi Jaiswal on the first ball of the match and finished with 6-48 – his best Test figures.
In reply, Australia experienced 10 overs of the pink ball in the evening before Jasprit Bumrah’s tenacity paid off, added movement and a thick edge from Khawaja (13) to catch Rohit Sharma at slip. went
Fellow opener McSweeney bowled 17 balls and lived on three when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
But he made the most of his good fortune by showing maturity in his second Test, while Lebuschagne survived a nervous start as he hit a big score after a lean spell.
India come into the clash on the back of a 295-run victory in the first Test in Perth, but Australia have a formidable record in Adelaide, having won all pink-ball Tests played at the venue.
The visitors retained Jaiswal and KL Rahul as openers in preference to Rohit, who missed the first Test on paternity leave, and came on at six.
But the plan backfired as Starc sensationally bowled Jaiswal lbw on the very first ball, with the left-hander’s spectacular celebration showing what he meant.
Jaiswal scored 161 runs in his last innings.
The returning Shabman Gill then hit two fours in a crucial over.
But the runs dried up and Rahul was at the crease without scoring for 40 minutes when he was caught out by Scott Boland.
Rahul was on, but a no-ball was called and he survived.
Five balls later and another let-off to him, dropped by Khawaja.
Before that Starc worked his magic again and on 37 Mick Sweeney took a catch at gully to remove him.
Virat Kohli returned to form with an unbeaten century in Perth but this time he was no match for Starc, who was dismissed for seven when Steve Smith took a slip-catch.
Gill weathered the storm, but his luck ran out just before the first break when he was left lbw for 31.
Six wickets fell in the second session, including Rohit (3) and Pant (21).
Pant should have gone for five, but McSweeney provided a quick chance for the injured Josh Hazlewood at Boland gully.
But the 35-year-old got his reward four balls later, beating Rohit’s bat and sending him LBW.
Pant fell to a vicious rising ball from Pete Cummins before the opposing Starc came back and sent Ravichandran Ashwin (22) and Harshit Rana (0) off four balls. Taken over in the break.
With India in trouble, Nitish Kumar Reddy took charge, hitting two huge sixes in one Boland over for his highest Test score of 42 before he and Bumrah fell to Starc and Cummins respectively.