Perth: Indian openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal nullified Australia’s fired-up bowlers and helped build an important and morale-boosting lead on day two of the first Test in Perth.

After a chaotic opening day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where 17 wickets fell in just 76.4 overs of play, Australia lost three wickets in the two hours prior to lunch to be all out for 104, still 46 runs shy of India’s modest total of 150.

By tea, India had moved to 0-84, with a lead of 130 runs, to rocket into favouritism on a pitch that seemed to be playing fewer tricks than day one.

Rahul and Jaiswal showed excellent application at the crease, having come off respective scores of zero and 26 in the first innings. Jaiswal, who has shown great promise in his short career thus far, grew with confidence every over as Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins struggled to make inroads with the new ball.

Had Australia’s top order given a better account of themselves on Friday night, the home side could have taken a first-innings advantage but will now be chasing a game that slowed down significantly once players adjusted to the bouncy Perth surface.

Earlier, India captain Jasprit Bumrah took the prized wicket of Alex Carey with his first ball of the day, but a rearguard 10th-wicket partnership between Starc and Hazlewood frustrated the tourists’ attempts to clean up Australia’s tail.

Australia avoided further humiliation by going past their lowest total against India (83 in 1981) and bringing up triple figures, to the relief of the local crowd hoping this match continues until at least the end of the weekend.

In home Tests, Australia have been bowled out for fewer than 104 runs on just 11 occasions. The last time that happened was in 2016, when Australia were skittled for 85 in Hobart.