The Boxing Day Test was to be a milestone for the venue as well as for former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, but it was a robust Aussie batsman with a voracious appetite for tons, who stole the show on the opening day of the much awaited first Test on Wednesday. Left-handed opener Matthew Hayden slammed his 19th century at home in an aggregate of 28 to shatter the great Sir Donald Bradman’s world record of three-figure scores on home soil in what is the 100th Test at the MCG and also the 100th for Ganguly. Hayden was back to milking his favourite opposition, slamming a resolute 124, but with the other batsmen, save Phil Jacques, failing to play themselves in, Hayden did not have the satisfaction of seeing his team in a solid position against an opposition ever keen to make inroads. Australia finished the day on 337-9 with Anil Kumble providing his team with important dismissals as the four-Test series looked set for a competitive time ahead. Electing to bat, Australia openers Hayden and Phil Jacques (66) added 135 runs that came with the help of some crisp shots combined with some quick running between the wickets. A probing opening spell by Zaheer was warded off as the batsmen played others with consummate ease and frustrated the bowlers by chipping the ball around to keep the scoreboard moving. Hayden’s doughty effort came off 183 balls with the help of only nine boundaries but quite a few threes. Hayden played confidently and also had a go on the odd occasion, but was generally happy to play along the carpet even as the spinners avoided pitching up to him, knowing fully well that he is the best Aussie batsman when it comes to handling the slow stuff. The left-handed duo of Hayden and Jacques took the team to 111 without loss after the first session, but just as the Aussies looked set to take command, the Indians dented the batting line-up with some crucial blows. Kumble and Zaheer shared three scalps in the second session to peg the Aussies back and it was a keen contest in the remaining part of the day. Jacques was lured out by Kumble and stumped easily by Mahendra Dhoni. Zaheer then removed the dangerous Ricky Ponting with a superb delivery that moved away after pitching to dislodge the Aussie skipper’s off stump. Kumble came back to trap Michael Hussey lbw as Australia fell from 135 without loss to 165-3. Hayden’s was a soft dismissal as he offered an easy catch to Rahul Dravid at mid-on off Zaheer, while Michael Clarke swiped at one outside the off stump off RP Singh to give a stiff catch to VVS Laxman at second slip. Kumble completed a five-wicket haul, which included the scalp of a dangerous looking Andrew Symonds, showing once again that he is capable of taking wickets by the bagful, whatever be the opposition or venue. Battling hard to get the right combination to take the field after much debate over the MCG wicket, the visitors included two spinners, playing Harbhajan Singh apart from Kumble. Zaheer and Rudra Pratap Singh filled up the two slots for the pace-men. Former captain Rahul Dravid took over the mantle of opening partner to Wasim Jaffer, while Yuvraj Singh retained his place in the eleven. Australia skipper Ponting preferred left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson over the express Shaun Tait, while Brett Lee led the bowling attack along with Stuart Clark. Left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg is the lone slow bowler in the side. 