VIRAT Kohli continued his Adelaide love-in as India spun Australia a World Cup reality check last night.
Australia wiped the floor with MS Dhoni's one-day unit 4-1 but Twenty20 and aggressive spin are India's domain. Skipper Aaron Finch (44) took up the fight on Australia Day in a 189-run chase but the hosts would eventually fold for 151 in 19.2 overs as India prevailed by 37 runs in the series opener.
India and unbeaten Kohli (90 off 55 balls) gave Australia's selectors food for thought as they compile a 15-man squad over five remaining T20 games here and in South Africa before the World Cup. 
Ravi Ashwin (2-28) and Ravi Jadeja (2-21) opened up old Australian wounds against spin ahead of the T20 showpiece on the subcontinent. Australia never recovered from skipper Steve Smith's exit to Jadeja in the ninth over that triggered a 7-54 collapse.
Ashwin short-circuited top- scorer Finch and all-rounder Shane Watson (12), while left-arm tweaker Jadeja also unravelled debutant Travis Head (2).
Jasprit Bumrah (3-23) removed David Warner (17) and James Faulkner (10) and appears India's find of the tour with his out-of-the-box seamers.
Watson, Chris Lynn (17), Head and recalled slinger Shaun Tait (0-45) had been given the three-match series to push cases for World Cup inclusion. Only Watson fired, albeit with the ball.
Chairman of selectors Rod Marsh has foreshadowed two players from outside the current T20 squad making the World Cup list. Wonder-bat Usman Khawaja will be one but Mitch Marsh faces a fight to take Watson's World T20 ticket.
Watson (2-24) has regained the 140km/h zip of his youth and removed both India openers Rohit Sharma (31) and Shikar Dhawan (5) in his first over.
There are no horse stations up for grabs in this series but Australia has prioritised gaining momentum in approaching a World Cup it hasn't won.
Kohli, 27, has owned Adelaide Oval with three tons and 394 runs at 98.5 in two Tests for India which preceded a match-winning World Cup 107 against arch enemy Pakistan last   February.
In yesterday's other match at the Adelaide Oval, the Australian women's Twenty20 outfit were given a reality check in a shock five-wicket loss to India.
The unfancied Indians chased down their 141-run target to win with eight balls to spare in the opening game of the three-match series. Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy, who cracked an unbeaten 41 in Australia's 5-140, said it was a sobering result for the world No.1 side.
BBL AUCTION P65
AUSTRALIA v INDIA 1st T20 INTERNATIONALADELAIDE OVAL INDIA R SHARMA c Faulkner b Watson31 (20) S DHAWAN c Wade b Watson5 (8) V KOHLI not out90 (71) S RAINA b Faulkner41 (34) M DHONI not out11 (3) Sundries (3lb, 7w)10 TOTAL (20 overs)3-188 Fall: 1-40 (Sharma), 2-41 (Dhawan), 3-175 (Raina).
Bowling: S Tait 4-0-45-0, K Richardson 4-0-41-0, J Faulkner 4-0-43-1, S Watson 4-0-24-2, C Boyce 3-0-23-0, T Head 1-0-9-0.
AUSTRALIA A FINCH lbw b Ashwin44 (33) D WARNER c Kohli b Bumrah17 (9) S SMITH c Kohli b Jadeja21 (14) T HEAD lbw b Jadeja2 (5) C LYNN c Singh b Pandya17 (16) S WATSON c Nehra b Ashwin12 (10) M WADE c Jadeja b Pandya5 (7) J FAULKNER b Bumrah10 (7) K RICHARDSON b Nehra9 (7) C BOYCE c Pandya b Bumrah3 (6) S TAIT not out1 (3) Sundries (2lb, 8w)10 TOTAL (19.3 overs)151 Fall: 1-47 (Warner), 2-89 (Smith), 3-89 (Finch), 4-93 (Head), 5-110 (Watson), 6-124 (Lynn), 7-129 (Wade), 8-143 (Faulkner), 9-149 (Richardson), 10-151 (Boyce).
Bowling: A Nehra 4-0-30-1, R Ashwin 4-0-28-2, J Bumrah 3.3-0-23-3, R Jadeja 4-0-21-2, H Pandya 3-0-37-2, Y Singh 1-0-10-0.India won by 37 runs