Adelaide
\nAustralia lost opener Usman Khawaja but took first day honours at the day-night second Test in Adelaide Friday after a Mitchell Starc onslaught saw India crumble to 180 all out.
\nAt the close, the hosts were 86-1 with Nathan McSweeney not out 38 from 97 balls and Marnus Labuschagne on 20 after the visitors were dismissed on the cusp of tea after winning the toss and opting to bat.
\nA menacing Starc was India\u2019s chief destroyer.
\nHe gave the hosts a dream start in removing Yashasvi Jaiswal with the first ball of the match and ended with 6-48 \u2014 his best Test figures.
\nIn reply, Australia weathered 10 overs of the pink ball at dusk before Jasprit Bumrah\u2019s persistence paid off, finding extra movement and with it a thick edge from Khawaja (13) that carried to Rohit Sharma at slip.
\nFellow opener McSweeney took 17 balls to get off the mark and had a life on three when dropped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
\nBut he made the most of his fortune, showing maturity in his second Test, while Labuschagne survived a nervy start as he targets a big score after a lean spell.
\nIndia came into the clash riding high after a 295-run victory at the first Test in Perth, but Australia have a formidable record in Adelaide, winning all seven pink-ball Tests they have played at the venue.
\nThe visitors retained Jaiswal and KL Rahul as openers in preference to Rohit, who missed the first Test on paternity leave and came in at six.
\nBut the plan backfired as Starc sensationally trapped Jaiswal lbw from a swinging first ball, with the left-armer\u2019s pumped-up celebration showing how much it meant.
\nJaiswal scored 161 in his last innings.
\nThe returning Shubman Gill then stroked two boundaries in an eventful first over.
\nBut the runs dried up and Rahul was at the crease for 40 minutes without scoring when he was given out, caught behind off Scott Boland.
\nRahul was walking off, but a no-ball was called and he survived.
\nFive balls later and he had another let-off, dropped by Khawaja.
\nUndeterred, he battled on before Starc wove his magic again to remove him for 37 with McSweeney holding a catch low at gully.
\nVirat Kohli roared back to form in Perth with an unbeaten century but he was no match for Starc this time, out for seven when Steve Smith collected a slip catch.
\nGill weathered the storm, but his luck ran out just before the first break when he fell lbw on 31 to the relentless Boland.
\nSix wickets tumbled in the second session, including Rohit (3) and Pant (21).
\nPant should have gone for five, but McSweeney spilled a sharp chance in the gully off Boland, in the side for the injured Josh Hazlewood.
\nBut the 35-year-old got his reward four balls later, beating Rohit\u2019s bat to trap him lbw.
\nPant fell to a vicious climbing ball from Pat Cummins before a hostile Starc returned and took care of Ravichandran Ashwin (22) and Harshit Rana (0) in the space of four balls.
\nWith India in trouble, Nitish Kumar Reddy took charge, clobbering two big sixes in one Boland over for his highest Test score of 42 before he and Bumrah fell to Starc and Cummins respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Adelaide Australia lost opener Usman Khawaja but took first day honours at the day-night second Test in Adelaide Friday after a Mitchell Starc onslaught saw India crumble to 180 all out. At the close, the hosts were 86-1 with Nathan McSweeney not out 38 from 97 balls and Marnus Labuschagne on 20 after the visitors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n