Adelaide: Australia’s David Warner paid a fitting tribute to his deceased teammate Phillip Hughes by cracking a rollicking 145 before India clawed back with three quick blows to share the honours on an emotionally charged opening day of the first cricket Test here on Tuesday. Opting to bat first, Australia rode on Warner’s 10th Test century and were cruising along comfortably before India struck three vital blows at the fag end of the day to reduce the hosts to 354 for six at the Adelaide Oval.
The home team was comfortably placed at 258 for two when Warner became debutant spinner Karn Sharma’s maiden victim, which triggered a collapse of sorts with Mitchell Marsh (41), night-watchman Nathan Lyon (3) and Brad Haddin (0) falling in quick succession to help India stage a fightback.Mitchell Marsh put on 87 runs for the fourth wicket with Smith but he speared a rearing Varun Aaron delivery to Virat Kohli at fourth slip for 41 in the final overs of the day.
Nathan Lyon, sent in as a nightwatchman, was bowled by Mohammed Shami for three with 12 balls left. Steven Smith was unbeaten on 72 when stumps were drawn for the day with four balls still to be bowled. Earlier, the stadium witnessed a gamut of emotions before the commencement of the match as spectators clapped for exactly 63 seconds as a mark of respect for Hughes.
Both teams wore black arm bands while the Australians had Hughes’ Test cap No 408 inscribed on their jerseys. But nothing was more poignant than Warner, who was at his attacking best, but at the same time was finding it difficult to keep his emotions under check.When he reached a personal score of 63, he raised his bat and looked heavenward as a tribute to his mate.
Australia lost two wickets in the morning session.On reaching his century, Warner again broke down and skipper Michael Clarke, batting at the other end, came over and gave him a hug. Australia had a cause for concern as Clarke retired hurt on 60 due to a recurring back spasms, after having added 118 runs for the third wicket with Warner. Clarke faced 84 balls hitting nine fours in the process.Warner was finally out after facing 163 balls and striking 19 boundaries. He holed out in the deep mid-wicket region where Ishant Sharma took a catch off Karn’s bowling.
Scorecard
Australia (1st innings): C. Rogers c Dhawan b Ishant 9, D. Warner c Ishant b Karn 145, S. Watson c Dhawan b Aaron 14, M. Clarke (retired hurt) 60, S. Smith (batting) 72, M. Marsh c Kohli b Aaron 41, N. Lyon b Shami 3, B. Haddin c Saha b Shami 0. Extras (lb4, w4, nb2) 10. Total (for six wickets in 89.2 overs) 354.
FoW: 1-50, 2-88, 3-258, 4-345, 5-352, 6-354.
Bowling: Shami 17.2-1-83-2, Aaron 17-1-95-2, Ishant 20-4-56-1, Karn 23-1-89-1, Vijay 12-3-27-0
