🏏Australia vs India, 2nd Test: Adelaide, 06 - 10 Dec 2024: Day 2🏏

McSweeney, Labuschagne blunt India after Starc sizzles on Australia's day
Starc's career-best figures of 6 for 48 saw India fold for 180 before the batters kept Bumrah and Co at bay.
Jasprit Bumrah then got rid of Usman Khawaja in the twilight but the under-pressure Marnus Labuschagne and rookie opener Nathan McSweeney navigated a tricky passage of play to guide Australia to stumps without any further damage. Their unbroken 62-run partnership helped Australia cut their deficit to under 100 and ensured that the first day belonged to them.
The first ball from Starc was a portent for what was to follow. He struck in the first over of each of his three spells, asserting his supremacy in pink-ball Tests. He came away with career-best Test figures of 6 for 48, which extended his pink-ball tally in Australia to 72. It is twice as many as Pat Cummins (36) has taken and 29 more than what Nathan Lyon, Starc's closest contender in pink-ball Test cricket in the country, has managed.
It all started with that first ball to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had told Starc that he was "coming on too slow" in Perth. On Friday in Adelaide, Starc let rip a full, fast one that threatened to angle down leg before swerving back into the line of the stumps and seaming in the other direction off the pitch to beat the attempted flick and thud into front pad. It was so plumb that Jaiswal didn't even bother to review. Starc roared at the departing Jaiswal and had the Adelaide crowd, which grew to 50,186 by the close of play, roaring with him.
Shubman Gill, who returned to India's Test XI after missing the Perth Test with a hand injury, and KL Rahul then briefly settled India's innings with a 69-run stand for the second wicket. Gill showed little signs of rust and laid into drives whenever Australia's quicks veered away from their lengths and the stumps.
At the other end, Rahul was more circumspect, playing out Cummins for three maidens, before fending at Scott Boland's first ball, which reared up to threaten the shoulder of his bat. Rahul walked off, thinking he had nicked it behind but a front-foot no-ball from Boland earned him a reprieve. There was nothing on the Snicko either. Five balls later, Boland hit Rahul's outside edge but Khawaja grassed the chance at first slip.
Rahul's luck, however, ran out when Starc returned for his second spell and struck with his fourth ball. He extracted extra bounce and had Rahul edging to gully for 37 off 64 balls. In his next over, Starc took out Virat Kohli for seven off eight balls with a similar prancing delivery. Soon after, Boland nipped one into Gill's pads as India lost 3 for 12 in a chaotic 15-minute period before the dinner break.
India's slump continued after resumption, with Boland pinning Rohit Sharma's pads this time. Playing in his first Test match in over a year, in place of the injured Josh Hazlewood, Boland kept it on a good length, or just back of it, and kept gleaning seam movement. Rohit, who had slid down the order to No. 6 to accommodate Rahul at the top alongside Jaiswal, fell for 3 off 23 balls.
Cummins then joined the fun when he bounced Rishabh Pant out, with a back-of-a-length delivery that kicked up at his ribs, for 21 off 35 balls. It meant so much to Cummins that he celebrated it with a big roar. The Australia captain had looked underdone in Perth and wasn't at his sharpest with the new ball on Friday, but redeemed himself with the big scalp of Pant.
33