Rob Forsaith at the Gabba
The West Indies dismissed Shane Watson for a duck in the third over of play, but half-centuries from Simon Katich and captain Ricky Ponting have seen Australia steady to reach 1-114 at lunch on day one of the opening Test at the Gabba.
Watson failed to offer a shot to a sharp delivery from Jerome Taylor that pitched outside off stump but nipped in to wrap the all-rounder on the front pad, making it 10 times in 19 innings he has been adjudged lbw.
Ponting punched the next delivery through mid-wicket for a boundary to get both himself and his side off the mark.
Ponting (51 not out) and Katich (56 not out) were tested, mostly early on by new-ball combo Taylor and third-gamer Kemar Roach, but the pair has been pugnacious in an opening session that was made all the more tricky by overcast conditions.
Ponting has stroked eight boundaries and crashed a booming six in the final over of the opening session, where he lifted a no-ball from Ravi Rampaul into the stands to bring up his milestone.
Katich initially took a relatively more cautious approach, at one point being stranded on the score of 25 for over half an hour, but lifted his run rate late in the piece to overtake Ponting in the race to 50.
Katich also dispatched a shorter ball from Rampaul for six with a thumping pull shot, before working a single to fine leg in the 22nd over to bring up his half-century.
Roach's fruitless opening four-over spell had a handful of lbw appeals, but his biggest blow came in the eighth over of play when Ponting was in obvious pain after being struck in the chest by a nippy delivery.
The opening Test in Brisbane marks the first time the International Cricket Council's decision review system (DRS) has been used on Australian soil after its full implementation by the ICC.
The DRS, which allows each side two unsuccessful challenges, was brought into play shortly after drinks when jetlagged Windies captain Chris Gayle asked for a referral after umpire Ian Gould turned down a confident lbw from Rampual when Ponting was on 30.
After studying Hawkeye's take on the ball, third umpire Mark Benson ruled that Gould's decision should stand.
A brief shower threatened to halt the game while Benson was adjudicating, but the two on-field umpires opted against calling for the covers.
Earlier Ponting won the toss and elected to bat while the visitors were dealt a major blow when veteran batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan lost his battle to be fit for the match after injuring his back at training on Wednesday.