India have Australia fighting a desperate rearguard in the second cricket Test after capturing five second-innings wickets on the fourth day at the Adelaide Oval in Australia on Monday.
Australia held a 33-run lead after dismissing the Indians for 523 with Rahul Dravid last man out for a record 233 before lunch, but the home side lurched into trouble.
Five balls before tea, Sourav Ganguly’s men snapped up the psychological wicket of Australian skipper Steve Waugh for 42 to leave the home side tottering at 112 for five.
That represented an overall lead of 145 runs with four sessions left in the Test on a turning deteriorating pitch.
India, fighting back after Australia’s mammoth 556 first innings, are in with a great chance of their first Test victory in Australia since 1981.
Agit Agarkar, getting swing and movement off the pitch, had Justin Langer out leg before wicket for 10 and Ricky Ponting caught in the gully for a streaky duck after his double-century in the first innings.
Agarkar had two big appeals against Ponting before he got him out slashing outside off-stump to Akash Chopra.
India claimed the big wicket of Matthew Hayden for 17, taken in a great full-length diving catch by Virender Sehwag in the covers off Ashish Nehra, after lunch.
Nearing tea Dravid brought off two wonderful catches at slip to dismiss Damien Martyn (38) and Waugh, both off Sachin Tendulkar’s legspinners.
Dravid, the major contender as man-of-the-match, made an outstretched right-handed catch at slip to dismiss Martyn and followed up with another priceless catch to send Waugh on his way.
Australia earlier wrapped up the marathon 647-minute Indian first innings with Dravid out hooking Jason Gillespie to Andy Bichel at fine leg in the second hour of play.
Dravid overtook Sunil Gavaskar’s 221 against England at The Oval in 1979 to become the highest Indian Test scorer outside India to date.
The vice-captain batted for six minutes under 10 hours for his fourth Test double-century off 446 deliveries with 23 boundaries and a hooked six, which brought up his 16th Test century on Sunday.
Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill took the other two wickets in the morning, trapping Anil Kumble lbw for 12 and taking a return catch off Irfan Pathan for one.
Bichel had the best return of 4-118 off 28 overs, with wrist-spinners MacGill and Katich taking two wickets each. — Sapa-AFP