David Warner celebrated his hundred looking up at the sky and going into the arms of his skipper Michael Clarke and possibly gave the greatest tribute to friend-cum-teammate Phil Hughes against India on Day 1 at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.
There was not even a single spectator on the stadium which was not on its feet, post Warner completed that single and celebrated in joy with Clarke, who also made a well-compiled fifty on the opening day and took the game away from Team India.
Clarke, who was doubtful for the match, was retired hurt owing to a back pain to give Australia a severe dent in the second session. He, however, made most of his time on the crease and stitched a 118-run partnership with Warner to put Australia in commanding position.
Warner, who fell to debutant Karn Sharma, thrashed the Indian bowlers all over the park and toyed with the Indian pacers by hitting boundaries at will. Varun Aaron and Mohammed Shami failed to find the right length and gave plenty of loose balls early in the session.
There was altogether a different game going on at the other end as Chris Rogers was playing in completely contrasting fashion. Speedster Ishant Sharma, who was the pick of the bowlers, ended his misery to draw first blood by dismissing Rogers on just nine.
Shane Watson (14) was the next to depart, when he was caught at second slip by Shikhar Dhawan off Varun Aaron. Afterwards it was all Clarke-Warner show, despite Indians hitting some good marks, but not consistently, throughout the day.
After getting the wicket of Warner (163-ball 145), the Virat Kohli-led side might be thinking of crawling back into the contest, but it never happened. Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith continued from where Clarke-Warner left and thrashed the Indians.
They made scores 87 runs for the fourth wicket, before Aaron does the trick with the second new-ball to dismiss Marsh (41), while Shami got the better of nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (3) and Brad Haddin (0). Smith remained unbeaten on 72 as the hosts finished the day on 354 for six.
Earlier, Clarke decided to bat first on a pitch, which had nothing for the bowlers, although there was a bit of turn, but not enough to keep the batsmen guessing. Kohli, who was captaining Team India in MS Dhoni’s absence decided to field four bowlers, including Karn.
