Starc takes Test best as Australia dominate India

Border-Gavaskar Trophy, second Test, day one, Adelaide

India 180: Reddy 42; Starc 6-48

Australia 86-1: McSweeney 38*; Bumrah 1-13

Australia trail by 94 runs.

Scorecard

Mitchell Starc claimed career-best Test figures of 6-48 as Australia seized the initiative on day one of the second Test against India.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to make first use of the pitch at the Adelaide Oval, but India were rattled out for 180 thanks to some high-class bowling from Starc, who confirmed his status as the most dangerous bowler in day-night Test cricket.

The left-arm quick set the tone for an impressive Australia attack when he trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw with the first delivery of the match.

Starc's haul also included the top-order wickets of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli before another menacing spell later in India's innings blew away the lower order.

His figures eclipsed the 6-50 he took against Sri Lanka at Galle in August 2016 and underlined his mastery with the pink ball - nobody comes close to his 72 wickets in day-night Tests.

Nitish Kumar Reddy struck three sixes as he top scored for India with a counter-attacking knock of 42 off 54 balls, including a spectacular reverse scoop off Scott Boland.

Australia faced a testing session under the floodlights with Jasprit Bumrah hungry for wickets on his 31st birthday.

The India seamer was left looking to the heavens when Nathan McSweeney edged him to Rohit at slip on five, only for the chance to be grassed.

Bumrah subsequently removed fellow opener Usman Khawaja with a brute of a delivery which climbed into the left-hander's ribcage and nipped to take the edge with Rohit holding a more straightforward catch.

However, McSweeney and the under-pressure Marnus Labuschagne diligently battled through to stumps without further loss, and will resume on 38 and 20.

The concentration of the pair was not even broken by two brief floodlight failures and a spectator wobbling a beer snake next to the sightscreen.

Starc tickled pink in Adelaide

Mitchell Starc has led the way with the pink ball for Australia

Australia needed a response after a comprehensive drubbing by India in the first Test in Perth - and Starc duly provided the impetus.

This was a high-calibre display of bowling from Starc who showed why he is such a handful in day-night Test matches with his fingers positioned over the seam of a pink ball.

Starc's vicious cocktail of full, swinging yorkers and steepling bouncers were unpalatable for India's batters as they were shot out in two sessions.

The 34-year-old gave the hosts an electric start as Jaiswal joined Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne and, more famously, England opener Rory Burns in the Ashes, in falling to Starc from the first ball of a Test match.

It was a rasping toe-crusher for Jaiswal - a centurion in India's win in Perth - to get first up as the ball swung late into his pad to trap him in front as he attempted a leg glance.

India briefly rebuilt with a stand of 69 for the second wicket before Starc ripped the heart out of the tourists' top order when he found extra bounce off a tricky length.

Both Rahul and Kohli were caught in two minds, drawn into edging deliveries they desperately tried to pull out of.

Boland, in for the injured Josh Hazlewood, looked a threat and snared Shubman Gill and Rohit at key points even if Reddy took a shine to him - taking 16 of 21 runs in what was the seamer's most expensive Test over.

Pat Cummins (2-41) removed Rishabh Pant as he looked set to take on the Aussie attack before Starc returned to finish the job for Australia.

It was Starc's fourth five-wicket haul in day-night Tests - two more than anybody else - and he has 29 more wickets than the next-best bowler in Nathan Lyon (43 wickets).

McSweeney shows his mettle

Pink ball. Under lights. Bumrah charging in to an inexperienced opener in McSweeney.

This can only go one way, right? Well, no, actually.

The 25-year-old Queenslander used up a life when he nicked Bumrah and Pant dived across Rohit to leave India's captain with a tougher chance.

It did not lead to a specific mental or technical change of approach from McSweeney, who finished the day with 38 runs from 97 balls and an asterisk next to his name, but he did leave well.

According to CricViz 30 of those balls McSweeney left or shouldered arms.

Parachuted in at the start of this series to open for Australia, having done so only once before in first-class cricket, this was the kind of judgement and mental fortitude required for the assignment.

McSweeney was not the only man in the spotlight on day one. Labuschagne's Test career has been written off in some quarters following a decline.

But in testing conditions another of Australia's under-pressure batters dug in, leaving the hosts in a dominant position heading into day two as they look to square the series.

'We were bang on with the ball' - reaction

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc on ABC Grandstand: "It was a good day all round. We were a fraction wide in the first hour but after that we were bang on with the ball.

"With the pink ball you are never out of the game in terms of it doing something. There might be periods when it doesn't do as much but then it might start doing things. But not a lot of what I do changes.

"To get batting on day one and go to stumps with grit and determination was fantastic, in what are the most difficult conditions in pink-ball cricket. If we have a successful first session on day two we hold the cards."

Former Australia seamer Glenn McGrath: "Australia did well to come through that last session losing just one wicket. It was tough going.

"They weren't scoring too quickly but they hung in there and I think India got a little bit frustrated at the end.

"Batting under lights is going to be hard but they fought hard and that's what you want to see from the Australian team."

Ex-Australia coach and batter Darren Lehmann: "All in all Australia's day with the way they bowled and batted.

"Mitchell Starc was superb with the ball. Nathan McSweeney was excellent under the pressure and so too was Marnus Labuschagne even though it took him 19 balls to get off the mark.

"I know people will say they scored too slow but they did what they had to do. If Australia bat half-decent they win this Test match."