Australia took away most of the honours on the opening day of the first Test at Bangalore as the visitors reached an impressive 316-5 at stumps. The star performers for the Aussies were not the Haydens and Martyns but two young turks Simon Katich and Michael Clarke -one still finding his feet in international cricket and the other making his debut in the longer version of the game. The duo rescued Australia after the World Champions were in a spot of bother at 177-4.

Katich played like a seasoned campaigner and had no trouble against either Harbhajan or Kumble going down the wicket and hitting shots at will against both the classy spinners. With Ricky Ponting injured, Katich was given the responsibility of occupying the vital no.3 spot and the talented left-hander made full use of this opportunity. He forged a good partnership with Justin Langer after Matthew Hayden fell sweeping Harbhajan straight into the hands of Yuvraj Singh for 26. Katich and Langer took Australia to lunch without any further damage. Langer was very lucky to survive a close lbw appeal of Pathan very first ball of the match. But the opener made good use of his fortune and carved out a fighting half-century. Langer and Katich played watchfully for most of the first session very unlike Australia's approach where they attack the bowlers right from the word go. There certainly was a new plan put in place by the Aussies for this tour. But Irfan Pathan with his great reverse swinging delivery castled Langer for 52 and disturbed the visitors' strategy of keeping wickets in hand. Anil Kumble too got into the act and put the Aussies in further trouble when he had Damien Martyn caught bat pad. India's disciplined bowling seemed to be reaping rich rewards by now. The newly appointed vice-captain fro Australia came in and like Langer was very fortunate to be given not out when a delivery from Kumble took Lehman's gloves on its way to Rahul Dravid in the slips. But Kumble, looking for this 400th wicket, had his man as Lehman played a nothing shot hitting across the line to give Dravid a simple catch behind the wickets.

With their top four batsmen back in the pavilion, India were right on top of the match. The new man in was debutant Michael Clarke and it wasn't going to be easy for the youngster to tackle the pumped up Indian spinners. But the Aussie sensation looked in no trouble against any of the bowlers. Clarke played strokes all round the wicket frustrating the Indian bowlers in the post tea session. Along with Katich, who impressed one and all with his elegant knock, Clarke dominated the Indian bowlers and even the likes of Harbhajan and Kumble could not make any impact against the two. Katich was finally dismissed for 81 playing all over a leg side delivery from Kumble, in the process giving the Karnataka leggie his 400th Test victim.

Adam Gilchrist carried on the good work for Australia. He pulverized the Indian bowling in the last half hour of play. In fact one of Kumble's over went for 18 runs. Clarke too joined in the fun and hit two sixes to end with 76 not out. The debutant now has a great opportunity of scoring a century on debut in India, which would be a dream start to his cricketing career. India could be in for more trouble as Gilchrist also looked in ominous form during his brief stay at the crease. The pitch is already offering uneven bounce and considering India have to bat last on this pitch; anything in excess of 400 can be a match-winning total for the visitors. Bowling last will also give Shane Warne a great chance to improve his record in Indian conditions and in the process help Australia in their quest for victory in the first Test.

For India, even though Kumble ended with three scalps, Pathan was undoubtedly the best bowler on view. The left-armer bowled with pace and accuracy to keep a tight leash on the Australian batsmen for most of his spells. Zaheer Khan bowled a good line and length but never looked penetrative enough to pick up wickets. The biggest disappointment of all for the home team was the lack of consistency from Harbhajan Singh. The sardar, from whom great things were expected after his miraculous performance in the 2001 series, got rid of the dangerous Matthew Hayden but struggled to keep the rest of the batsmen quiet, leave alone troubling them. The 'Turbanator will have to lift his game on day two if India want to make a strong comeback in the match.