Aussie bowlers can only get better after strong opening

Despite keeping India's star-studded batting line-up in check for most of the opening day of the Vodafone Test series, Australia's bowlers believe there is improvement to be made.

And spinner Nathan Lyon, who knows more about the Adelaide Oval pitch than most, believes that step-up might come in the tourists' second innings as the wicket quickens up and the pink ball provides even sterner challenges.

India resume today at 6-233, after middle-order batters Virat Kohli (74), Cheteshwar Pujara (43) and Ajinkya Rahane (42) rescued their team from a rocky start.

But the pivotal run-out of Kohli shortly before the arrival of second new-ball last night – which Lyon later confirmed helped exorcise demons from his haunting fumble during last year's Ashes campaign – triggered a mini-collapse in which India lost 3-18.

With a pink ball just nine overs old, and keeper Wriddhiman Saha (9no) and spinner Ravi Ashwwin (15no) separating Australia's attack from India's tail-enders, the home team completed day one of the men's Test summer in good spirits.

But Lyon noted the bowling group was not about to claim success while India maintain four wickets, and the potential to bat deeper into today which would mean Australia's batters are exposed to the testing conditions as night falls.

 

"Definitely satisfying but I don’t think we can settle there," Lyon said after a tightly fought opening day.

"I think we can get a lot better as well, to be honest.

"We're very happy with where we're at but we can't settle there.

"I think we can keep pushing the boundaries and keep getting better as a bowling group so we're very happy but still a lot of work to do."

That mood could be attributed to the disciplined bowling stints put in by Lyon (1-68) in concert with seamers Mitchell Starc (2-49), Josh Hazlewood (1-47) and Pat Cummins (1-42) along with debutant all-rounder Cameron Green whose first nine overs in Test cricket cost just 15 runs.

By keeping India's batting line-up to a scoring rate of barely two runs per over for most of the day, Australia ensured they maintained pressure even through the middle session when wickets were tough to come by.

Lyon claimed the deftness of India's big three batters coupled with the softness of the pink ball as it lost its initial lacquer coating attributed to the bevy of edges that fell tantalisingly short of Australia's close catchers.

"If you look at India's top-order, I think they play with extremely soft hands," Lyon said at day's end.

"And the pink ball did a get bit soft, I think those nicks from Patty (Cummins) etcetera, the softer ball may have had an impact on that.

"I think the wicket's pretty good, and I just had a conversation with Josh Hazlewood where we're actually already looking forward to bowling in the second innings.

"Hopefully we can come out and be professional and execute tomorrow morning, and hopefully have a great innings.

"But I think the wicket is only going to get better, and may get even quicker."

Lyon's view was echoed by Starc who noted the diligent lines and lengths maintained by all five bowlers – leg spinner Marnus Labuschagne contributed a solitary over – was pleasing given it was the first day of Test cricket after a stint of white-ball matches.

"We were happy with the fact we were pretty disciplined, we didn't let them get away at any real stage, and got a few rewards late," Starc said.

"The run-out before the new ball was a nice turning point through that last session, followed by a couple of wickets with the new ball.

"Hopefully we can stay disciplined in the afternoon (today), it's a new ball so much the same as (yesterday) – stay patient, get the catchers in the game and hopefully pick up four wickets for not too many runs."

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

First Test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT