Clarke swims against tide to save team Watch the key moments of Michael Clarke's superb hundred on day one of the first Test against India in Chennai. WHAT would Australia do without Michael Clarke? With the wicket and the visitors' innings deteriorating at an alarming rate, the captain swam against the current to again rescue his young side. Clarke has made a habit of humiliating Indian bowlers in recent meetings and, while his triple and double centuries in the 2011-12 series were towering feats, this (103 not out) was an effort that may rank as more important. The captain was ably assisted in the middle-order salvage attempt by Moises Henriques, who scored 68 on debut and stayed in the middle for three hours as the pair compiled a 151-run partnership. Australia's top order had crumbled as surely and quickly as the red clay of the Chennai pitch with India's Ravi Ashwin picking up six wickets and a clear advantage for his side before Clarke and Henriques combined. Things would have been considerably worse if India had not opposed the DRS system, as Clarke should have been Ashwin's sixth victim caught close to the wicket just before tea, but the umpire ruled he had not hit the ball. If the first sessions are any guide to the rest of the four-match series, the Australians are in for a terrible battle. Ashwin (6-88) removed the entire Australian top order single-handedly, before Ravindra Jadeja had Mitchell Starc (3) bowled late in the day, leaving the Australians at 7-316 heading into day two. Clarke's fleet feet and Henriques' sure eye succeeded where all those before them had failed. Ed Cowan looked good until blood rushed to his head. Phil Hughes was undone outside off, but this time managed to drag the ball back on to his stumps. Shane Watson and Dave Warner built their innings to the lunch break but appeared drowsy and in need of a siesta when both fell soon after play resumed, while Matthew Wade also found the going too complicated for his simple approach. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made no secret that he expects curators to provide him with wickets that crumble and offer the best advantage to his spinners. Prepared days out from the match, the clay of the strip is overcooked and began to show signs of wear from the first overs, although it appeared to become easier to bat on as the day progressed. The Australians, with just one frontline spinner, are hoping that uneven bounce and reverse swing helps their seamers and the first of those factors was on display soon after the day's play began. In team meetings, Clarke had told his men that it was a greater crime to get out once set than to fall early on wickets like these. On his fourth Test tour of the sub-continent, he knows that it is hard to start but, once set, things should come more easily. In light of that, the failures of Warner, Watson and Cowan will not have gone down well. Cowan and Warner were - as they are - a study in contradictions in the first hour. The former was assured, steady and confident from the outset while the latter swatted, edged and miscued. Warner made the most of his luck. He was dropped on 18 off Ashwin's bowling by Virender Sehwag at first slip and for a while his most productive scoring shot appeared to be the French cut. Taking on the role usually reserved for his partner, Cowan even hit Harbhajan Singh over the spinner's head for six as he moved up a gear, but an attempt to repeat the shot in the following over saw him stranded out of his wicket and summarily stumped. He was gone for 29 with the score on 64. Hughes (6) didn't last long, but together Watson (28) and the increasingly assured Warner (59) steered the innings through to the lunch break before both played late on quicker spinning deliveries from Ashwin. They had put on 54 runs in good time, but the side needed at least 54 more from their partnership.