Dry pitch played into our hands: Aussies

Feb 25, 2017 - 11:31 AM Skipper Steve Smith says the curator in Pune "played into our hands" by producing a spin-friendly pitch for Australia's first Test against India, which finished late on day three.

The dustbowl raised eyebrows when it was unveiled on Thursday, with Shane Warne opining he had never seen a deck so dry and declaring the game could become "a bit of a lottery".

Smith won arguably the most important toss of his career and the tourists proceeded to record their first win in India since 2004.

Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe grabbed six wickets in 38 minutes on Friday, when the top-ranked Test side suffered a game-changing collapse of 7-11.

O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon then shared all 10 wickets to fall in India's second innings, delighting in the conditions.

"It was up to them to prepare a wicket and they prepared a wicket that actually played into our hands. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with in Bangalore," Smith said after Australia took a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.

"It was certainly a wicket that was probably more likely to suit the Indian players. I think it evened up the contest a lot more.

"We saw the way our spinners bowled on that, they were able to generate some good spin and natural variation."

Warne shared similar sentiments on broadcaster Star Sports prior to the match starting.

"We know India prepare those pitches that turn," he said.

"But if they take it too much, suddenly it becomes even for both sides. It's a bit of a lottery ... they might have just pushed this a bit too far."

Virat Kohli's side had played on more docile pitches for much of their 20-Test undefeated streak at home, especially during the five-Test series against England that finished last December.

Kohli refused to blame the surface.

"I don't think it was any different from the turners that we played on in the past. We just didn't play good cricket," India's skipper said.

"They exploited it better than us. They put us under pressure throughout and deserved to win this game ... there are no excuses."

Embarrassing collapses have recently been the lot of Darren Lehmann, who oversaw five of Australia's nine consecutive Test defeats in Asia.

But in Pune it was India mentor Anil Kumble left to bemoan a "couple of soft dismissals" that led to Australia taking complete control of the contest.

"We needed a lot more restraint," Kumble said.

"If you put your head down, you could make those runs ... it's a surface where you needed to adapt. We didn't adapt really well.

"It is a challenging surface which requires application, aggression and a bit of caution as well."

Source: AAP