The double strike sandwiched the run out of Shreyas Iyer (3) as India lost 3-9 from 24 balls.

Zampa should have had Rahul for one but dropped a routine return catch, which proved costly.

Dashing Suryakumar Kumar (50), a Twenty20 master whose 50-over game remains a work in progress, brought up a timely first half-century in his past 22 ODIs and combined with Rahul for a crucial 80-run fifth-wicket stand.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins, playing his first match since the Ashes, made a promising return to the bowling crease following his elbow injury, finishing with 1-44.

Earlier, David Warner (52), Josh Inglis (45), Steve Smith (41) and Marnus Labuschagne (39) all threatened to put Australia in control in hot, humid conditions but none were able to fully capitalise on their promising starts.

Shami was the chief destroyer, claiming Mitchell Marsh (four) in the first over, bowling Smith with a magnificent in-ducker and then cleaning up the tail.

Warner, who was granted a life on 14 when Shreyas Iyer dropped a sitter at mid-off, added 94 with Smith for the second wicket before miscuing Ravindra Jadeja to Subman Gill in the deep shortly after posting his 29th ODI half-century.

Smith, playing his first game since the Ashes series following an elbow injury, looked solid before being beaten by the brilliance of Shami.

Wicketkeeper KL Rahul fluffed an easy chance to run out Labuschagne on 11, but India’s acting captain eventually got his man, aided by a slice of fortune.

Labuschagne gloved an attempted reverse-sweep of Ravichandran Ashwin and was fractionally outside his crease when the ball bounced off Rahul’s pads and trickled onto the stumps.

The tourists got bogged down in the middle overs and were dealt another blow when Cameron Green, following a 15-minute rain delay, was run out for a painstaking 31.

Inglis, Marcus Stoinis (29) and captain Pat Cummins (21no) managed to raise the scoring rate during the final overs to give the Aussie attack something to bowl at on a traditionally high-scoring deck.

AAP

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