England were in command early on day one, but Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb battled hard to revive Australia’s first innings in Adelaide.
The visitors took control by dismissing Australia’s top four for 167 runs, uniting Marsh with the inexperienced Handscomb to search for their side’s foothold in the match.
The England pace attack converged smoothly to break Australian partnerships at regular intervals, Chris Woakes, James Anderson and Craig Overton, on debut, bowled aggressively after Joe Root elected to field.
David Warner and Usman Khawaja looked dangerous after Cameron Bancroft, in his second Test, was run out by Woakes, getting their side on track with a handy 53-run partnership, before Warner was dismissed on 48 by Woakes in the 15th over.
Khawaja was Australia’s best batter, reaching his ninth Test fifty, but he was removed by Anderson on 53 after building a platform with his captain Steven Smith, to take the hosts comfortably past the 100-run mark.
Smith could not repeat his heroics in the first Test and was sent back to the pavilion by Overton for his maiden Test wicket, the ball squeezing through Smith’s defensive block to find a gap between bat and pad, nudging his stumps.
Marsh (20*) and Handscomb (36*) batted out the remainder of the day, to guide Australia to 209-4 after 81 overs.
Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
