India vs Australia, 2nd Test Day 1 Lunch Report: Openers give hosts solid start

Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch gave Australia a solid start as the hosts went to lunch 66/0 on the opening day of the second Test match against India at Perth.

Harris (36*) and Finch (28*) fended off Indian pace attack in the first two hours after Australia captain Tim Paine had won the toss and elected to bat first. 

It was a steady yet dominant start for a desperate Australia side hoping to seal a series-leveling victory after a nail-biting 31-run first test defeat in Adelaide.

The grassy pitch was expected to conjure swing and bounce in a throwback to the nearby WACA's heyday, however, India's overeager pacemen bowled too short and wide to really trouble the openers.

India's quicks will be hoping to find some rhythm soon as the tourists played without a frontline spinner for only the third time in seven years after spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin was ruled out due to injury.

His replacement Umesh Yadav was expensive on a wicket that settled after offering initial movement, while spin-bowling all-rounder Hanuma Vihari also came in for injured batsman Rohit Sharma but did not bowl in the first session.

With Australia looking assured, India face the prospect of a long hot day in the field with the temperature expected to soar to 38 degrees Celsius as the smattering of spectators mostly took refuge under shelter.

Harris made a particularly watchful start, nervously getting off the mark with an inside-edge on the 16th delivery he faced, before the locally-born batsman feasted on wayward bowling.

Finch, meanwhile, under pressure after scoring just 11 runs in Adelaide, repaid the faith of the selectors as Australia named an unchanged side for the second of four tests.

He was untroubled until surviving a testing first over from Mohammed Shami, who unsuccessfully reviewed after trapping the batsman above the knee roll as the openers notched their first ever half-century partnership in the 15th over.

India went with a four-pronged pace attack with speedster Umesh Yadav replacing spinner R Ashwin, who was ruled out with a left abdominal strain. 

Spin bowling all-rounder Hanuma Vihari came in for injury-hit middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma. Australia named an unchanged lineup on Wednesday despite a 31-run defeat in the series-opener. 

Paine overcame an injury scare after appearing to injure his troubled right index finger on the final day in Adelaide.

 "It's obviously really warm today ... and with some hot weather around we expect it's going to crack up and be hard work," said Paine. "Everyone's recovered really well and ready to go and yeah, we're happy to be batting first." 

India captain Virat Kohli said India would have batted as well if he had won the toss but was looking at the positive. 

"But (it's) not a bad thing to bowl on the first day on a pitch which has a lot of grass on it," he said. 

"As batsmen, we'll have to see how the wicket behaves and it might not be a bad thing to see how it plays out. We'll look to get in with the ball in the first hour and make some inroads." 

The grassy pitch is expected to conjure swing and bounce in a throwback to the nearby WACA's heyday. It is the inaugural test at the shiny, new 60,000-seat stadium located in Burswood. 

Temperatures are expected to soar to 38 degrees Celsius, contributing to sluggish ticket sales with about 20,000 spectators tipped for day one. India have never won a test series in Australia, while the hosts are aiming to snap a barren streak of six tests without victory. 

The series concludes with the Boxing Day test in Melbourne and the New Year's test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 

Teams

Australia: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (captain), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon. 

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

(With Reuters and PTI Inputs)