warner fifty leads australia

With the focus firmly on how the Australians would front up to Test cricket following Phillip Hughes' death, David Warner scattered whatever nerves or doubts there may have been with a blazing start to the first Test. Warner hit seven of his first 15 deliveries for fours on the way to a 45-ball fifty after Michael Clarke chose to bat on an easy-paced Adelaide Oval pitch. 

India's new-ball pair of Mohammed Shami and Varun Aaron were taken for 81 in 13 overs, and had it not been for Ishant Sharma's control, the visitors would have suffered more. Warner was on 37 off 20 when Ishant came on and bowled a maiden to the opener. In his next over, he slanted one across to have Chris Rogers edging a drive to second slip for 9.

India stuck to their strategy of bowling round the wicket to the left-handed Warner, probably in an attempt to deny him width. They still ended up providing plenty of room, particularly at the start, and Warner punished them. He was especially severe on Aaron who went for three fours in his opening over, driven first ball through extra cover and flayed backward of point twice. Shami got the same treatment in his next over.

Barring a probing first over from Shami to Rogers, the India fast bowlers could not find much swing or seam and the new ball came on nicely for Warner to hit on the up freely. The first bouncer the Indians tried was in the fourth over when Aaron made Warner crouch. The batsman's response was to upper cut the next ball, another bouncer, for four. Warner pulled Aaron for successive fours to reach his fifty, closed his eyes and looked up to the skies, something he also did on reaching 63, the score Hughes was batting on when he was felled by a bouncer.

Shane Watson eased himself to a start in his first Test since March, before chasing a wide one from Aaron on 14 and edging to second slip, where Shikhar Dhawan made no mistake again.

Clarke was welcomed by a sharp bouncer from Aaron, as Watson had been by Ishant. Even as Clarke gradually settled down, Warner hit the debutant legspinner Karn Sharma for a couple of boundaries to go to lunch on 77 off 73, leaving Virat Kohli with lots to think about in his first Test as captain.