Australia vs. India: Winners and Losers from 1st Test
Australia took first blood in their four-match series against India after winning a cracker of a first Test in Adelaide by 48 runs.
After the recent tragic events in Sydney, the cricketing world desperately needed a boost, and the two sides provided one.
With all four results still possible heading into the final session, the series opener proved to be a classic.
The victory proved bittersweet for Australian captain Michael Clarke who, Cricket Australia reports, will miss the remainder of the series through injury.
Opposite number Virat Kohli was bold in the field and with the bat, but his side eventually fell short in the face of an inspired Nathan Lyon.
Read on to see who were the other big winners and losers from a memorable first Test.
All stats courtesy of ESPNCricinfo.com.
Winner: Nathan Lyon
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On a wearing fifth-day pitch and the match there to be won, the pressure was on Nathan Lyon to bowl Australia to victory.
The 27-year-old proved up to the task, picking up seven second-innings wickets to take his match haul to 12.
There's no mystery about Lyon. He bowls accurately, has a nice loop and gives it a rip. The conditions in Adelaide were perfectly suited to the New South Welshman who delivered in style.
He may not be in the class of Shane Warne, but the Aussies finally have a spinner worth hanging their baggy green on.
Loser: India's Top Order
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With the exception of Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay, India's top order crumbled in the second innings. The visitors are supposed to be great players of slow bowling but seem to have a blind spot against orthodox off-spinners.
Moeen Ali did for them in England and Nathan Lyon followed suit in the Adelaide opener, dismissing six of the top seven.
Cagey operator that he is, Lyon is no Murali. The Indians will have to find an answer to his loopy offies if they're to take anything from this series.
Winner: David Warner
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David Warner continued his spectacular 2014 with two superb hundreds in Adelaide. With strokes all around the wicket, he was a nightmare to bowl at, especially for spinner Karn Sharma.
The big-hitting left-hander received a stroke of luck in the second innings when bowled off a no-ball by Varun Aaron on 66. Warner was good enough to make the most of his fortune and reached three figures once again.
In his past six Test matches, Warner has scored a mind-boggling 1,029 runs at an average of 85.75. That spectacular run has included no fewer than six centuries and three more scores of over 50.
Warner has joined an elite band to have scored two hundreds in a Test match twice in the same year. Only Clyde Walcott, Sunil Gavaskar, Aravinda de Silva and Ricky Ponting had previously managed the feat.
In Friday's Daily Telegraph, Michael Vaughan wrote "if I was selecting a team of the top players in the game right now then David Warner would be the first name on the list."
On the evidence on show from Adelaide, it's hard to disagree with the former England captain.
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Loser: Chris Rogers
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If the form of one left-handed Australian opener is spectacular, the opposite is the case for his counterpart at the other end.
Chris Rogers enjoyed another miserable match. He scratched around for nine in the first innings, then fell to Karn Sharma's leggies for just 21 in the second.
The 37-year-old has failed to score a fifty in his past eight Test innings. It would be no great surprise if David Warner finds himself walking out with a new opening partner at the Gabba next week.
Winner: Steve Smith
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While David Warner and captain Michael Clarke hogged most of the headlines, Steve Smith quietly put in another fine performance.
After a slow start to his Test career, the 25-year-old has become a mainstay of the Australian middle order.
Adelaide was the first time that Smith has scored both a century and a half-century in the same Test match.
The all-rounder now has three Test centuries and a batting average of 77.90 in 2014. If he gets time to work on his leggies, there's a global superstar in the making.
Loser: Karn Sharma
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A leg-spinner being bashed about on his debut in a Test between Australia and India is no impediment to future success. Just ask Shane Warne.
Karn Sharma enjoyed a similarly tough Test baptism in Adelaide. India's spin debutant struggled in the face of some aggressive batting, especially from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Sharma eventually got his man in the second innings, but not until Warner had reached three figures.
The 27-year-old gave the ball a rip, though, and deserves another opportunity in Brisbane.
Winner: Virat Kohli
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Presiding over a 48-run defeat would normally put a captain in the loser rather than the winner category.
Virat Kohli deserves his place in the former, though, after a brave effort with the bat and some bold captaincy.
After a string of low scores in the summer, England fans could have been forgiven for thinking just what the fuss was about Kohli. His back-to-back centuries in Adelaide showed just what a stellar performer he can be.
Chasing an unlikely target of 364, the visitors were still very much in the hunt until the skipper holed out to Nathan Lyon, just 60 short of victory.
Kohli deserves great credit for going for the win, too. India may have lost the first Test, but the stand-in skipper's adventurous, attacking instincts have won him a legion of fans in Australia and beyond.
Loser: Michael Clarke
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It's rare that the losing captain is a winner and the winning captain is a loser. Michael Clarke can be delighted with his efforts in the middle. After a superb century, the Australian captain saw his side claim a famous victory.
That will be his final act in this series, though. A hamstring tear means that he'll miss the final three Tests against India.
It could be even worse for Clarke. Speaking in a post-match press conference reported by Cricket Australia, the 33-year-old speculated that he could have made his final Test appearance:
"There is a chance I will never play again. I hope that is not the case, but you have to be realistic as well."
In Clarke's absence, it looks like Brad Haddin will take the captaincy reins at the Gabba next week.
Winner: Test Cricket
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Given the recent tragic death of Phil Hughes, there was a chance that neither side would be up for this Test.
The confrontation between Varun Aaron and David Warner showed just how much this match meant, though.
Both sides were fully involved in the contest. The fast bowlers on both sides didn't shirk at trying to bowl as quickly as they could. The batsmen were aggressive, constantly searching for ascendancy.
It was tough Test cricket from two teams committed to winning.
Both sides deserve great credit for showing just how tense, exciting and thoroughly entertaining the five-day game can be. Roll on Brisbane.
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