Brisbane, January 15: Debutant Washington Sundar bagged his maiden Test wicket in Steve Smith but Australia made a strong recovery after losing their set batsman in the second session of the play on day one of the fourth Test match between India and Australia in Brisbane.
At tea break, Australia reached 153/3 in 54 overs, with Marnus Labuschagne (73*) and Matthew Wade (27*) forged a solid fifty-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Indians managed to get the big wicket of Smith in the second session of the day's play. Smith (36) gave a simple catch to Rohit Sharma off Sundar. The centurion of the previous Test was looking in good touch but was outfoxed by Sundar's delivery.
But Indians failed to capitalise upon the breakthrough as poor fielding let the tourists down. Labuschagne - who went on to notch up his 11th Test fifty and fifth of the series - made the Indians pay for dropping him. The right-handed batsman was dropped at India skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the gully when he was batting on 36. He was later dropped by Cheteshwar Pujara at slip cordon and went on slamming his half-century. Later, he forged a partnership of 50-plus with left-handed batsman Wade.
Indians meanwhile, suffered an injury scare as Navdeep Saini walked out of the field after complaining of pain in his groin. If the right-arm pacer fails to walk into the middle then it will be a massive blow for the Indians who are already marred with injuries.
Earlier in the day, Australia captain Tim Paine won the toss and elected to bat first against India. The Aussies lost the openers early in the innings when David Warner and Marcus Harris were dismissed cheaply in the morning session.