Perth, Jan 13: Australia have taken control of the third Test against India after a dismal performance by the visitors on the opening day of the match. Put in to bat by Australia captain Michael Clarke, the Indians were bowled out for 161 following which David Warner smashed a sensational century (104*, 80b, 13x4, 3x6) to take the hosts to 149 for no loss at stumps.

Australia went into this Test match with four quick bowlers; young left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc got the nod ahead of offspinner Nathan Lyon. India, too, opted for an all-out pace attack with R Vinay Kumar making his Test debut in place of R Ashwin.

The buoyant hosts dominated proceedings from the very beginning. Virender Sehwag (0) was out caught at second slip by Ricky Ponting off Ben Hilfenhaus in just the fourth over of the day. Rahul Dravid (9) struggled during his 35-ball stay at the wicket before a fuller delivery from Peter Siddle hit his pads and went on to hit the stumps. Sachin Tendulkar (15) hit a couple of crisp straight drives before he was adjudged lbw to a Ryan Harris delivery that cut in after pitching. India then lost their fourth wicket when Gautam Gambhir (31), who showed some kind of resolve during his 82-ball stay at the wicket, nicked a delivery from Hilfenhuas back to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. The visitors had some respite as lunch was called at which point the scoreboard read 73 for the loss of four wickets.

VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli struck a patient partnership in the first hour-and-a-half of the post-lunch session to give Indian fans some hope of a fight-back. However, their 68-run stand was put to an end when Kohli (44) drove a length delivery from Peter Siddle straight to David Warner at point off the last ball of the 51st over. Siddle then dismissed Laxman (31) 11 deliveries later to leave India floundering at 138 for six.

A shaky India collapsed at the fall of Laxman’s wicket. The last four wickets added only 23 runs to the Indian total with MS Dhoni’s 12 runs being the only double-digit contribution by the lower order. Debutant Mitchell Starc took two of those lower-order wickets – R Vinay Kumar (5) and Ishant Sharma (3) – while Hilfenhaus was the pick of the Australian bowlers with figures of four for 43.

The Australian openers, David Warner and Ed Cowan, came out blazing as the 50-run mark was raised in just seven overs. Warner, in particular, launched into the Indian pacers, driving anything that was pitched up on the offside and pulling anything that was short on the on side.

Even as MS Dhoni tried to rotate his pacers in order to break the opening partnership, Warner raced away to his century off just 69 deliveries. The Australian reached the landmark – the fourth-quickest Test century of all time and the fastest ever by an opener – by clubbing Vinay Kumar over long-on for a huge six in the 20th over of the Australian innings.

The hosts eventually finished the day at 149 for the loss of no wickets, just 12 runs short of India’s first-innings score, with Warner (104*) and Ed Cowan (40*) at the helm of affairs.

Brief scores:

At end of Day 1: India 1st innings 161 all out in 60.2 overs (Virat Kohli 44, Ben Hilfenhaus 4/43, Peter Siddle 3/42); Australia 1st innings 149 for no loss in 23.0 overs (David Warner 104*, Ed Cowan 40*)