Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes shared a fourth-wicket stand of 169 as Australia overcame a rocky start to take control on day one of the Women's Ashes Test against England.
Both fell short of their centuries as they were dismissed in quick succession after tea but their partnership helped the home side recover from 4-2 and 43-3 having been inserted by Heather Knight.
Katherine Brunt (3-52) and Anya Shrubsole (1-36) did the damage with the new ball while Nat Sciver (3-41) also impressed for England as Alyssa Healy (0), Beth Mooney (3) and Ellyse Perry (18) all fell cheaply before lunch.
However, Lanning (93) and Haynes (86) made the most of chances afforded to them by England drops to take Australia to a position of strength by the end of the second session at Canberra's Manuka Oval.
England sensed an opportunity when the pair fell in successive overs to Sciver and Brunt but Ashleigh Gardner (56) countered with a quick half-century and Tahlia McGrath (52) reached her maiden Test fifty before edging the last ball of the day behind to keep Australia well on top, closing on 327-7.
England make dream start
Having won the toss and opted to bowl first on a green-tinged surface, England could not have wished for a better start as Brunt struck in the third over to remove Healy with a beautiful out-swinger that the opener feathered behind on the drive.
Three balls later, Australia were two down as Mooney, making an almost miraculous return less than two weeks on from breaking her jaw, nicked behind off Shrubsole to give Amy Jones another catch and just when the Aussies seemed to have righted themselves, she had a third; Perry sending an attempted pull shot straight up to give Sciver her first.
With plenty of lateral movement through the air and off the seam, the England seamers were looking threatening but it was when they turned to spin that should have brought them their first wicket. Sophie Ecclestone found just enough turn to locate Lanning's outside edge but Knight shelled the catch at slip, giving the Australia skipper a life on 14.
A wicketless afternoon session put Australia in the ascendency with Haynes and Lanning cashing in on some loose England bowling but, again, only after the tourists had squandered an opportunity. This time it was Haynes, on 44, let off the hook after slashing a delivery angled across her body by Brunt and sending a thick outside edge to second slip, but Sciver could not hold on as she moved to her left.
Lanning, who also survived a review for caught behind with the third umpire unable to find conclusive evidence to show the ball had come off her glove as she tried to sweep debutante Charlie Dean, seemed to be heading serenely through to a first Test century to join the exclusive club of players with international hundreds in all three formats.
However, after being tested by a number of short balls, she came up seven runs short as she pushed at an out-swinger from Sciver, opened the face of the bat and guided the ball to Knight at first slip. No mistake this time from the England captain.
In the next over, Haynes was gone too as Brunt produced a snorter of a delivery that reared up from just back of a length to take the left-hander's glove on the way through to Jones.
Gardner and McGrath counter for Australia
At 212-5, Brunt was fired up, England had the momentum and a chance to end the day on top but Gardner and McGrath had other ideas with the former signalling her intent as she pulled Sciver for six early in her innings.
The boundaries started to flow and the pair were well set by the time the second new ball became available, although England curiously continued with the old ball for another four overs - during which time the fifty partnership came up - before taking it.
Initially, it just meant the ball went more quickly to the boundary but once Brunt and Shrubsole settled in, chances came. Both bowlers came close to finding the edge before Shrubsole had McGrath given lbw with a hooping in-swinger, only for the Australia No 6 to successfully review with ball-tracking showing it would have gone just over the top of leg stump.
There was no escape for Gardner, who had brought up her second Test fifty from 62 balls, in the the next over, though, as a nip-backer from Brunt rapped her on the knee-roll. The umpire's finger went up and this time the review was to no avail.
England were frustrated for the next half hour or so as McGrath continued to play her shots, occasionally riding her luck before getting a huge slice of it to bring up her half-century in the last over of the day with a mistimed cut shot that went in the air towards backward point but was put down by Sophia Dunkley.
On this occasion, though, the drop did not prove too costly as McGrath tried to end the day with a bang, looking for a booming drive off Sciver and nicking behind, a fifth catch for Jones and a positive end for England after a tough day in the field.
Sciver: England 'pretty positive' after mixed opening day
England vice-captain Nat Sciver: "It was a pretty good day I think for us. I think we probably won the first session, we were really happy with taking three wickets with the new ball and then probably got a little bit wide and a little bit wayward in the middle session and then brought it back at the end. So we feel, I think, pretty positive about the day that we had."
Australia opener Rachael Haynes: "It's probably not an unfair assumption that, I think, this probably will be my last Ashes Test, so I just want to enjoy it for what it is. I think it's a really special occasion, not just for me as a player, but for the whole team.
"This series is one that's held in really high regard amongst our playing group, so I think first and foremost we just want to focus on tomorrow and getting another day's play together."
What's next?
The West Indies vs England T20 series comes to a conclusion in Bridgetown, Barbados this weekend with the fourth game on Saturday (8pm UK time) and the fifth on Sunday (8pm UK time).
The Women's Ashes, meanwhile, continues with the standalone Test match in Canberra (Thursday-Sunday). Australia led the multi-format series 4-2 after the three T20 internationals, with the hosts winning the first game by nine wickets before the second and third matches were washed out by rain.
Sticking in Australia, and the Big Bash League final is live on Sky Sports Cricket from 7.30am on Friday as Sydney Sixers look for a third successive title when they face Perth Scorchers at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.