Mitchell Starc posted career-best Test figures of 6-48 as Australia took the initiative on the first day of the second Test against India.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to use the pitch at the Adelaide Oval for the first time, but India were bowled out for 180 thanks to some first-class bowling from Starc.

The left-arm pacer set the tone for an impressive Australian attack when he struck with the very first shot of the game when Yashasvi Jaiswal was trapped on his left side.

Starc’s exploits also included the top-order wickets of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli before another menacing spell later in India’s innings destroyed the lower-order wickets.

His figures surpassed the 6-50 he scored against Sri Lanka in Galle in August 2016 and underlined his mastery with the pink ball – no one has more than his 72 wickets in day-night Tests.

Nitish Kumar Reddy hit three sixes and top-scored for India with a counter-scoring 42 off 54 balls, including a spectacular reverse scoop from Scott Boland.

Australia faced a Test session under lights with Jasprit Bumrah hungry for wickets on his 31st birthday.

The Indian seamer looked skyward as Nathan McSweeney edged him out to Rohit at slip-on-five, only to have the chance of ending up on the ground.

Bumrah then beat fellow opener Usman Khawaja with a vicious delivery that climbed into his chest and pinned him to the edge, while Rohit was able to catch the ball more directly.

However, McSweeney and the under-pressure Marnus Labuschagne fought diligently through to the stumps without suffering any further loss and will continue with scores of 38 and 20 respectively.

Even two short floodlight outages and a spectator who saw a beer snake wiggling next to the screen didn’t disturb the two’s concentration.

More to follow.