India took a first-innings lead of 71 over Australia on day four of the third Test on Sunday, although their slow batting could come back to haunt them in their push for victory.
The home side are 7-479 at tea in reply to Australia’s 408, after adding 95 runs for the loss of four wickets in the post-lunch session.
Virat Kohli is 50 not out with tailender Bhuvneshwar Kumar on 17.
Peter Siddle (3-67) and Mitchell Starc (2-74) grabbed two wickets each in the first six overs with the second new ball to slice through India’s middle order as the home side tumbled from 3-412 to 7-431.
Occasional leggie Steve Smith (1-63 off 10 overs) served up some of the worst bowling in recent Test history while skipper and part-time spinner Michael Clarke looked on at slip, nursing a sore back.
Shikhar Dhawan (187) and Murali Vijay (153) hit centuries in an opening stand of 289.
India had gone to lunch at 3-384 after losing 3-101 in Sunday’s morning session.
Offspinner Nathan Lyon struck to remove Dhawan in the second over of the day.
The Delhi-born Dhawan – whose wife Ayesha Mukherjee and their two children live in Melbourne – produced the sixth-highest score by a player on his Test debut and the highest by an Indian.
Three overs later India’s double-century maker from the second Test Cheteshwar Pujara was out for a duck, lbw to Siddle.
Smith struck a key blow in the final over before lunch when the 39-year-old Sachin Tendulkar was caught at bat-pad for 37. It was Smith’s fourth Test wicket and first since July 2010.
India moved ahead of Australia’s 408 in the 101st over, which was the last with the old ball.
Left-armer Starc’s inswingers claimed two lbws to remove Vijay and the dangerous MS Dhoni (four) in the first five balls with the new cherry.
Siddle was also damaging from the other end, dismissing Ravindra Jadeja (eight) and Ravi Ashwin (four) in consecutive overs as India slumped to 7-431 before the home side responded with an unbroken 48-run stand for the eighth wicket.
India lead the four-match series two-nil. Even a draw for India would allow MS Dhoni’s side to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
