Nathan Lyon's 13th five-wicket Test haul - and sixth against India - bodes well for Australia's mission to consign Virat Kohli to a long summer.
Lyon's figures of 6-122 ensured the hosts remained a slim chance to save the first Test late on day four despite being set an imposing target of 323 at Adelaide Oval.
The offspinner made the breakthrough Australia desperately needed on Sunday when he dismissed first-innings centurion Cheteshwar Pujara on 71, and was later on a hat-trick when he removed Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammed Shami.
But the most significant blow may have been when he had Kohli (34) caught at bat-pad in Saturday's final session, continuing his formidable record against the Indian skipper.
Lyon has now dismissed the world's best batsman six times in Test cricket - a feat no other bowler has accomplished.
Australia will be emboldened to target Kohli throughout the remainder of the series by the pressure Lyon was able to impose in the build-up to his dismissal.
"It's always a great challenge coming up against the greats of the game and Virat's definitely that," Lyon said on Fox Cricket.
"I actually felt I was going to get him caught bat-pad or even bowled through the gate.
"It was just great to get some reward out of that because it was one of those days where I felt like I bowled pretty well and you could've walked away with six or seven wickets.
"But I only had one (at stumps on Saturday) against a superstar batting line-up, so it's pretty good."
Lyon's eventual scalp of Rahane on 70 came after the India batsman successfully challenged a dismissal to the spinner on 17.
It was the third time in the match India had used the Decision Review System (DRS) to overturn a Lyon wicket with Nigel Llong responsible for each of the initial misjudgements.
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