Shami four-fer bowls out Aus for 263

New Delhi: India captain Rohit Sharma and his deputy K.L. Rahul saw out the remaining nine overs to take the hosts to 21/0 in nine overs and trail Australia by 242 runs at stumps on day one of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.

Rohit and Rahul are not out on 13 and 4 respectively after senior pacer Mohammed Shami picked four wickets while the spin duo of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each to bowl out Australia for 263 in the first innings.

For Australia, who elected to bat first after winning the toss, left-handed opener Usman Khawaja was precise in footwork and pristine in strokeplay to make 81, the first fifty by a visiting batter on the ongoing tour. Peter Handscomb looked impressive in his 72 not out. But losing wickets in back-to-back fashion thrice may come to hurt them later on.

Rohit began by standing tall and punching past point off his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins in the opening over. Debutant Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon found some extra bounce and turn as Rohit and K.L. Rahul were defending patiently. Rohit also got to overturn a 'caught on forward short leg' decision off Lyon on the stroke of stumps.

Earlier in the morning, after electing to bat first, Australia survived a fiery opening spell from Mohammed Siraj to get a 50-run opening partnership. But India bounced back courtesy of Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami. Shami had Warner trapped lbw in the opening over. But the left-handed batter immediately took a review and was saved as replays showed an inside edge. Khawaja, on the other hand, was off the mark with a nice glance on an overpitched delivery off Mohammed Siraj. He then made use of fuller balls from Shami by hitting two boundaries through the vacant space in the off-side. Warner was kept on a tight leash by Ashwin bowling from round the wicket. Though he was using his feet to counter the ace off-spinner, Warner was still all at sea as Ashwin found turn, bounce and grip. But he managed to get off the mark on his 21st delivery.

Brief scores: Australia 263 in 78.4 overs (Usman Khawaja 81, Peter Handscomb 72 not out; Mohammed Shami 4-60, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-57) lead India 21/0 in 9 overs (Rohit Sharma 13 not out) by 242 runs.