A valiant, unbeaten 73 from skipper Tim Paine was not enough for Australia to prevent conceding a lead for the first time in a day-night Test. India finished 53 ahead thanks to a collective bowling effort led by R Ashwin’s four-wicket haul.

Australia staged a fightback with Paine stitching together important stands with the lower order that saw Australia move from 111/7 at one stage to 191 all out. The skipper first started to counter attack with the help of Mitchell Starc (16) before taking on the lead role. Driving, sweeping and reverse-sweeping his way to a quick fifty, Paine provided the right reply to Australia’s predicament despite the inherent risk it carried. Australia benefited through dropped chances that were a consistent feature through the innings, but did not manage to nullify the advantage Ashwin had given India earlier.

Ashwin’s rhythm was set in his first over of the series when he had Steve Smith nicking to slip against a quicker, straighter one. After a mighty sprint in celebration, Ashwin settled down to produce a top-class spell. He had Travis Head beaten in flight to have him caught and bowled and then troubled debutant Cameron Green through his 24-ball stay before a Virat Kohli stunner at mid-wicket gave Ashwin his third of the innings.

While Marnus Labuschagne rode his luck, having been dropped twice, over the course of his 46, he found little support from the other end. The luck finally ran out in the final session when Umesh Yadav trapped him LBW with one keeping low. Yadav raised India’s hand again by getting Pat Cummins caught off a snorter in the same over before Paine managed to land a few counter punches.

Earlier India had managed to land some counter punches themselves after starting the day in timid fashion, being bowled out in just 25 balls.

Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah started with consistent lines outside off that enabled four maiden overs on the trot against Australia’s new-look opening pair of Joe Burns and Matthew Wade. Both batsmen countered the lines with disciplined leaving although India went a touch too wide and short at times.

With the opening stand looking steady, Australia looked set to take control of the opening session. However, Jasprit Bumrah in his second spell corrected his lines by attacking the stumps more often. It resulted in both openers being trapped LBW, with DRS decisions supporting the umpire’s call on both occasions.

These blows had helped offset Australia’s advantage in the first session where they picked up the last four Indian wickets for just 11 runs. R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha were looked upon by their team to extend their stand and get India close to 300. However, Ashwin fell first nicking Pat Cummins’ delivery in the first over of the day without adding to his overnight score. Saha, off the first ball he faced in the day, chased a wide one from Mitchell Starc to nick behind as well, thus kick-starting the collapse. A wildly swinging Umesh and less than comfortable Shami provided no resistance in the first innings.

However, India ended the day in stark contrast with nightwatchman Jasprit Bumrah seeing out eleven balls and remaining unbeaten after Prithvi Shaw was bowled for the second time in the match to ensure that India’s advantage did not get dented any further.

Brief Scores:

India 244

(Virat Kohli 74, C Pujara 43, A Rahane 42; M Starc 4-53, Pat Cummins 3-48)and 9/1 (Pat Cummins 1-6)lead Australia 191 all out (Tim Paine 73*, Marnus Labuschagne 47; R Ashwin 4-55, Umesh Yadav 3-40) trail by 62 runs

(Cricbuzz)