Rival seamers Peter Siddle and Trent Boult said it was a great buzz to play in the first day-night Test in history.
Australian Siddle bagged 2-54 to move to 200 Test wickets as New Zealand, who chose to bat, were bowled out for 202 in front of 47,441 fans at the Adelaide Oval.
Boult then picked up the wicket of David Warner for one before Australia rallied to reach stumps on 54-2.
"It was a great day," said Siddle. "Everyone who came and witnessed what went on will be very impressed with the whole experience.
"I think cricket in general was supported well here and it would have been on TV all over the world. For cricket it's definitely been a great day.
"The atmosphere out there was amazing from early on until the end of play, the crowd was upbeat and especially when we were on a roll and getting some wickets."
Reflecting on how the pink ball performed, he added: "There wasn't a lot of swing early on for us but I think as the evening moved into the twilight period there was a bit in the wicket, a bit of sideways movement off the deck, but I think it played well.
"To go out there in probably the toughest part of the day to be 2-50, it's not a bad situation."
New Zealand paceman Boult played down suggestions that day-night cricket could be staged in New Zealand in the near future.
"We need to see a bit more of it, to be honest," he said. "It was a great buzz out there, everyone could see that. It was amazing to be playing Test cricket in front of 50,000 people.
"We've got to see how this one goes and how it pans out. It definitely is exciting for Test match cricket."
Boult added that the experimental pink ball "played out exactly as we forecast it."
"It does seem to change a lot under lights and in the last session," he said. "It definitely swung around a little bit there with the new ball, and there was still a shade of it with it 22 overs old.
"From what everyone is saying, it's a different game under lights. The game is well and truly progressed; definitely a pretty good first day."
Watch highlights of today's play live on Sky Sports 2 at 1.30pm. Join us for coverage of day two from 3.25am on Saturday on Sky Sports 2.