Off-spinner R Ashwin picked up a couple of wickets in an economical spell but Australian batsmen scored freely against other Indian bowlers to reach 126 for two in their first innings at lunch on the opening day of their first cricket Test here today.
At lunch, opener David Warner (58) and Shane Watson (28) were at the crease. Ashwin, who bowled 11 overs on the trot, claimed two for 30.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, the Aussies sailed along smoothly for almost 15 overs before opener Ed Cowan was stumped following a 29-run knock.
Soon after, in the 19th over, one-down batsman Phil Hughes (6) was clean-bowled by Ashwin.
However, the aggressive Warner and the ever-reliable Watson combined to ensure that the Aussies went to lunch with an upper-hand.
On a track which Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni expected to turn from the first day itself, the hosts employed spin just 22 minutes into the match.
Harbhajan Singh, playing in his 100th Test, and Ashwin bowled in tandem but the former was distinctly ineffective against a team, which he calls his favourite given his past record against it.
Harbhajan’s 10 overs cost 42 runs and yielded no wickets for the Indians.
The pacers — Ishant Sharma and debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar — shared just seven overs between them. Of the two, Bhuvneshwar seemed more impressive, managing a maiden and conceding 15 runs in his four overs even though he could not get a wicket.
Among all the bowlers used by the home team this morning, Ashwin was the only one to trouble the Aussies, who were aggressive in their running between the wickets.
Warner, who was nursing a thumb injury before the match, showed no discomfort and took on the stroke-making role with his 58 coming off 88 deliveries, including half a dozen fours so far.
The left-hander was tad lucky early on when Virender Sehwag dropped him at slips off Ashwin while he was on 18.
Next up, Dhoni missed a difficult stumping off the same bowler a few overs later.
However, Ashwin got his first wicket when Cowan was out to a pre-determined shot, stumped by Dhoni. Cowan’ 29 came off 45 balls and included four fours and a six.
Two overs later, Ashwin dismissed Philip Hughes when the batsman hit an inside edge onto the leg-stump. He made 6 of 15 balls.
For Australia, all-rounder Moises Henriques made his Test debut.