Occasional off-spinner Virender Sehwag grabbed three wickets, but Ricky Ponting struck 87 as Australia reached 338-4 on the third day of the third Test against India on Friday.
Australian skipper Ponting led the top order fightback in reply to India’s daunting first-innings 613-7 declared.
Sehwag bowled Ponting and Mike Hussey (53) in the evening session after trapping opener Matthew Hayden (83). At stumps, Michael Clarke was on 21 with Shane Watson on four.
Hayden raised 123 runs with fellow opener Simon Katich (64), before adding another 79 for the next wicket with Ponting.
Sehwag took 3-66 to bolster a struggling Indian bowling attack already without injured off spinner Harbhajan Singh, with skipper Anil Kumble also forced off the field in the afternoon session.
Leg-spinner Kumble suffered a bad cut on his left hand after dropping Hayden on 70.
India won the second Test by 320 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. The final Test begins in Nagpur on November 6. — Reuters