Australia v India 2014/15 - 2nd Test, Day 3: Hosts slightly ahead after Murali Vijay's wicket

Shikhar Dhawan & Cheteshwar Pujara walk off after seeing India through to stumps on day three

Brisbane, Dec 19 - Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson's whirlwind partnership propelled Australia to a first innings score of 505, giving them a lead of 97, but India made a solid start to their second innings, reaching 71 for one to trail by only 26 at stumps on day three of the second Test at the Gabba on Friday.

At stumps, India's opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara were at the crease, on 26 and 15 respectively. First innings centurion Murali Vijay (27) was the Indian batsman to be dismissed.

Australia, though, will be the happier of the two teams, having fought back brilliantly from a precarious position to help themselves to a handy first innings lead.

Indian bowlers’ ineptitude at dismissing the tailenders once again cost them dear as Australia reached 505 from an uncomfortable position of 247 for six.

India have the worst bowling average in Test cricket when it comes to bowling to the tailenders. The visitors have given away 84 runs on an average to take the eighth, ninth and tenth wickets.

Captain Steven Smith (133) and Mitchell Johnson (88) put together 148 runs for the seventh wicket as Australia smashed 282 runs in two sessions of play on day three.

To add to India's woes, No.9 batsman Mitchell Starc struck an unbeaten 51 runs.

Starc combined first with Nathan Lyon (23) to add 56 runs for the ninth wicket and then with debutant Josh Hazlewood (batting 31) for an unbeaten 49-run stand for the final wicket to give the hosts a handy lead.

Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav took three wickets each while Varun Aaron took two and Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with one.

Smith and Johnson, who counter-attacked with great fervour, though, laid the foundation of the fightback.

They carried on from where they left off at lunch and continued to attack the Indian bowlers.

To their credit, the Indians did bowl a little fuller than they did in the previous session but still found the going hard against the Australian duo.

It finally took an Ishant over to get rid of the two. The Indian pacer first got Johnson with a wide and full delivery and then castled Smith with a sharp inswinger.

Earlier, a blistering unbeaten 104-run partnership between captain Smith and Johnson took Australia to 351 for six at lunch.

The Australians seemed to be in a spot of bother when overnight batsman Mitchell Marsh (11) and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (6) were dismissed early in the session.

But a breathtaking counter-attack from Smith and Johnson, who scored 104 runs in just 84 balls, wrestled the momentum away from the Indians.

Australia scored 130 runs in the session losing two wickets in the process. The session started as India's best bowling session of the match but ended up as their worst.

The visitors began with discipline, attacking the channel outside off, and were rewarded with two early wickets.

Ishant clean bowled Mitchell Marsh and then Aaron removed vice-captain Haddin with a perfectly executed bouncer.

However, India switched their plan and bowled short deliveries indiscriminately, and Johnson feasted on them to run away to a 37-ball half-century. The error in judgement proved costly as Johnson got much-needed confidence to put together a vital 148-run partnership with Smith that nullified India's early supremacy and put the home team in a strong position.

Smith moved to his second century of the four-match series as well, as India's 187-run lead at the start of the day shrunk to 57. From then on, Australia didn't falter.

India 1st innings: 408 all out

Australia:

Chris Rogers c Dhoni b Yadav 55

David Warner c Ashwin b Yadav 29

Shane Watson c Dhawan b Ashwin 25

Steven Smith b I Sharma 133

Shaun Marsh c Ashwin b Yadav 32

Mitchell Marsh b I Sharma 11

Brad Haddin c Pujara b Aaron 6

Mitchell Johnson c Dhoni b I Sharma 67

Mitchell Starc b Ashwin 52

Nathan Lyon c R Sharma b Aaron

Josh Hazlewood batting 32

Extras (w 5, nb 10, lb 4) 19

Total (all out in 109.4 overs) 505

Fall of wickets: 1-47 (Warner, 8.3 overs), 2-98 (Watson,19.4),3-121 (Rogers,24.5), 4-208 (S Marsh,46.5), 5-232 (M.Marsh,56.6), 6-247 (Haddin, 61.1),7-395 (Johnson,87.1), 8-398 (Smith,87.6), 9-454 (Lyon,96.2), 10-505 (Starc,109.4)

Bowling:

Ishant Sharma 23-2-117-3

Varun Aaron 26-1-145-2

Umesh Yadav 25-4-101-3

Ravichandran Ashwin 33.4-4-128-2

Rohit Sharma 2-0-10-0

India 2nd innings:

Murali Vijay b Starc 27

Shikhar Dhawan batting 26

Cheteshwar Pujara batting 15

Extras (lb2, nb1) 3

Total (for one wicket in 23 overs) 71

Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Vijay,10.3 overs).

Bowling:

Mitchell Johnson 8-3-29-0

Josh Hazlewood 6-0-24-0

Mitchell Starc 4-1-10-1

Shane Watson 5-3-6-0

Match Details:

Test debut: Josh Hazlewood (Australia)

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Ian Gould (England)

TV umpire: Simon Fry

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)