Zaheer Khan struck in his last over to make it even stevens at the end of day one as Ricky Ponting dominated with a classic ton.

STUMPS

Australia end day one at 254 for four after Zaheer sent back Michael Clarke on what turned out to be the last ball of the day. The bowler, who also picked up a wicket in his first over, still has four balls to bowl this over and will resume the proceedings on Friday morning. Earlier, Harbhajan Singh picked up the wicket of Ricky Ponting for the ninth time in Test matches. The Aussie skipper on his part played a fantastic knock of 123, his 36th Test hundred, and the first in India. That's all for the day today. See you at 09:30 IST on Friday for action on day two!

CATCH DAY ONE'S ACTION RIGHT HERE!

IMAGES OF THE DAY'S PLAY!

Afternoon Session

After toiling right through the full session, Ishant Sharma finds the edge of Simon Katich's bat and MS Dhoni makes no mistake Katich is livid at having tried to play a shot off a widish delivery. That ends a 166-run partnership. A really important wicket for India - just what the doctor ordered. Michael Hussey joins Ricky Ponting in the middle, who is eyeing his first Test hundred in India. The crowd is back in the game. Hussey is content watching the ball carry to the keeper. And at tea, Australia are 166-2.

Morning Session

The first Test at Bangalore could not have asked for a better start. After Zaheer sent back Hayden with the second delivery of the day, the Indian new ball bowlers pushed the Aussies on to the backfoot. Another fascinating contest between Ricky Ponting and Ishant Sharma and subseqently with Harbhajan Singh ensued as the Aussie skipper slowly made his way back with the bat. Ponting and Katich are putting together a good partnership and at Lunch on day one are 75 for one. The Indian bowlers will have to put up a special show in the second session.

Toss and Teams:

Australian captain Ricky Ponting has won the toss and elected to bat first. Good move, but the Indian bowlers should get some movement early and if they can make it count, then they could pick up some quick wickets.

Australia: Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Cameron White, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark.

India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.

Pre-Match

Hello and welcome to our coverage of day one of the first Test between India and Australia at Bangalore. The mother of all series starts off today. Sourav Ganguly has called it a day and he would want to go out on a high.

Tell us what you are expecting from this match. Write in at STREETTALK@ESPNSTAR.COM