Australia 72 for 1 (Khawaja 36*, Labuschagne 26*) vs West Indies

Australia made a patient start against a disciplined West Indies attack on a green-tinged Optus Stadium surface in an absorbing first session to start the first Test.

After Pat Cummins won the toss, resisting the temptation of bowling on a pitch with 10mm of grass left on it, Australia recovered from the early loss of opener David Warner through watchful batting from Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, who shared an unbroken 63-run partnership to navigate the hosts through the morning session.

Kick-starting the Australian summer, expected fireworks from the pitch didn't quite eventuate, but several rearing deliveries could foreshadow what's ahead as the surface hardens.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite sought an aggressive approach by implementing attacking fields to back up his pumped-up quicks, who occasionally were armed with five slips in a throwback to matches during the nearby WACA's heyday.

Alzarri Joseph made his intent clear from the get go with a ferocious bouncer to Labuschagne after entering the attack 30 minutes into play. In his first Test in Australia, Joseph bowled consistently around 140 kph/87mph to challenge the batters but wasn't able to create any chances.

Fellow quicks Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales set the tone with accuracy, bowling a good line and length as they mostly resisted pitching up.

Having not won a Test in Australia since 1997, West Indies hoped for a strong start to the two-match series and their attack responded despite claiming just the sole wicket of Warner in the fourth over.

Warner had started patiently before getting off the mark on his 11th delivery. Having not scored a Test ton since January 2020, Warner looked solid and smashed a short ball from Seales to the boundary in his first sign of aggression.

But Warner was dismissed next delivery when he chopped onto the stumps in a sloppy attempt at smashing a full and wide delivery. It wasn't a particularly notable ball but West Indies were rewarded for luring Warner into the false stroke by leaving the cover region vacant in an early tactical win.

A full-strength Australia went in as expected, while West Indies named Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the son of legendary batter Shivnarine, and he received his marooned cap from Brian Lara before play.

West Indies wore black armbands as a tribute to former wicketkeeper David Murray, who passed away last week aged 72. He played 19 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1978-82.

Both teams took a knee before play in a stand against racism, which earned applause from the sparse crowd at the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium.

In a relief to those who turned up, the forecast for Wednesday has been downgraded to a maximum of 31 degrees celsius after higher temperatures were originally tipped.

Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood

West Indies 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Tagnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Nkrumah Bonner, 4 Jermaine Blackwood, 5 Kyle Mayers, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Roston Chase, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Jayden Seales