Australia vs. India 2014, 2nd Test, Day 1: Highlights, Scorecard, Report

India closed Day 1 in a strong position at 311-4 against Australia in the second Test at Brisbane, propelled by an innings of 144 from Murali Vijay.

Vijay had come agonisingly close to a ton on Day 5 in Adelaide, but after 99 there, he made no mistake here, and with support primarily from Ajinkya Rahane (75 not out), he gave the tourists an early advantage after India won the toss and opted to bat first. The visitors would go on to have a history-making match, per statistician Mohandas Menon:

Both sides made changes after the first Test—including switches to the captaincy. For Australia Michael Clarke's injury saw the promotion of Steve Smith, while first-choice skipper MS Dhoni was now fit to take his place in the India side.

In addition, the Baggy Greens recalled Shaun Marsh to the middle order and revamped their bowling attack with Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle jettisoned for Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. India brought in Umesh Yadav and Ravi Ashwin, replacing Mohammed Shami and Karn Sharma.

India made a solid start against the new ball, with Australia's opening bowlers of Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson making only a limited impact on a hot Brisbane morning.

Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Mins	Balls
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Vijay	c Haddin	b Lyon	144	332	213
Dhawan	c Haddin	b M Marsh	24	71	39
Pujara	c Haddin	b Hazlewood	18	85	64
Kohli	c Haddin	b Hazlewood	19	47	27
Rahane	not out		75	175	122
Ro Sharma	not out		26	49	34
Extras	1nb 0w 4b 0lb	5
Total	for 4 (83.0 ovs)	311
Johnson	15.0	2	64	0
Hazlewood	15.2	5	44	2
Starc	14.0	1	56	0
M Marsh	6.0	1	14	1
Lyon	20.0	1	87	1
Watson	10.4	5	29	0
Warner	1.0	0	9	0
Smith	1.0	0	4	0

But having negotiated the first hour, Shikhar Dhawan saw another start go unfulfilled when he slashed at a wide ball from Mitchell Marsh, only to edge behind. It was the bowler's first wicket at Test level.

His involvement was limited, however—after six overs he did not return to bowl because of a suspected hamstring problem, as noted by Cricket Australia:

Cheteshwar Pujara was a slower, steadier replacement in the middle, helping India through to lunch without further loss, but he was soon to fall after lunch as Hazlewood bowled an impressive, fiery spell on his debut.

Vijay was becalmed—he scored just 27 runs in the afternoon, compared to 46 in the morning, and 71 in the evening—while two prized wickets fell.

Pujara was the victim of a poor decision to a brute of a ball, a bouncer beating him but not taking bat or glove, rather bouncing off the helmet.

And Virat Kohli, so nearly India's hero in Adelaide, was the victim of Hazlewood's bounce, edging behind to Brad Haddin.

Rahane's arrival, however, was just the foil that Vijay needed. He scored at a good pace and enabled Vijay to speed up as well, and they put on 124 runs together, getting on top of the steepling pitch.

Captain Smith, perhaps his hand slightly forced by the Marsh injury and the heat of the day, shuffled his bowlers—none bowled more than Nathan Lyon's 20 overs and eight were used at least once—but to little avail.

Vijay, who had struck 22 fours, decided to charge a flighted Lyon delivery and made poor contact, offering Haddin an easy chance, but that was to be the home side's last joy of the day.

Rohit Sharma batted through the last few overs of the old ball and the first ones of the second new ball to help his side through to stumps, with Rahane arrowing in on a century which would give India total control. OptaJim points out that Australia does have a record-setting win percentage at Brisbane:

Whether India can then make bowling inroads on a pitch whose bounce would appear to suit Australia's players more naturally, will be the question on Day 2.