By Timothy Abraham, BBC Sport.
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 struck with the very first delivery of the match as Yashasvi Jaiswal was trapped lbw.
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 their 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 counterattacking 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 grounded.
Bumrah subsequently removed fellow opener Usman Khawaja with a brute of a delivery which climbed into his 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
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 a pink ball in his grip.
Starc’s vicious cocktail of full, swinging yorkers and steepling bounce 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, when he fell 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 the pad of the India opener as he attempted to glance it to leg.
India briefly rebuilt with a stand of 69 for the second wicket before Starc ripped the heart out of tourists’ top order after he found extra bounce off a tricky length.
Both KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were caught in two minds, drawn into edging deliveries they desperately tried to pull out of.
Scott Boland, in for the injured Josh Hazlewood, looked a threat and he snared Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma at key points even if Reddy took a shine to him – taking 16 of 21 runs in what was his most expensive over in Test cricket.
Pat Cummins (2-41) removed Rishabh Pant just as he was about to unleash 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 a whopping 29 more wickets than the next-best bowler under lights 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 specific a mental or technical change of approach from McSweeney, but he finished the day with 38 runs from 97 balls and an asterisk next to his name. 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 before in first-class cricket, this was the kind of judgement and mental fortitude required for the job.
McSweeney was not the only man in the spotlight on day one. Labuschagne’s Test career has been written off 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.