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The much-anticipated series between Australia and India lived up to expectations on day one of the first Test with the match evenly poised heading into day two. Follow the live scores and blog from 2:55pm (AEDT) here on The Roar.
Steve Smith proclaimed the Pune pitch “will take spin from ball one”, and the Australians had their worst fears confirmed as David Warner and Matt Renshaw were subjected to the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin in just the second over.
As the ball turned and bounced prodigiously on the crack-laden track, the home fans would have been forgiven for having a small chuckle while watching the plight of the visiting batsmen.
However, despite numerous deliveries coming perilously close to the outside edge of both openers, Renshaw and Warner played within themselves to put on an opening stand of 82.
Renshaw, in particular, played with great composure and discipline, becoming the youngest Australian to score a half-century in India.
Battling a stomach bug – which caused him to retire ill midway through his innings – as well as the Indian bowlers, Renshaw used his stature to good use, often coming forward to nullify the turn and bounce.
At the halfway mark of the opening day, with 119 runs on the board, two established batsmen at the crease, and just David Warner back in the dressing room, the Aussies would have felt good about their chances of posting a score in excess of 300.
But after both Shaun Marsh and skipper Smith gifted their wickets away, the Indian spin trio of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav took five wickets between them to hamper the Australian innings.
Naturally, with India boasting the two best spinners in the world – Ashwin and Jadeja are ranked one and two in Test cricket – most of the pre-series chatter was based around combating the tweakers.
Yet it was Umesh Yadav who was the pick of the bowlers.
Bowling in the mid-140s and getting the ball to reverse, Umesh showed why the paceman from both teams will still have a considerable impact on the series, ripping through the lower order to leave Australia reeling at 9-205.
Against the run of play, Mitchell Starc bludgeoned the spinners – the slog sweep his weapon of choice – on his way to a better than run- a-ball half century, his third against India.
Along with a stoic Josh Hazlewood, the last wicket partnership of 51 added invaluable runs to Australia’s total.
At 9-256, both teams would be relatively happy with the state of the match. A few more boundaries early from Starc could have Australia firmly in front when India eventually start their innings.
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