Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson take Australia to 351/6 at lunch on day 3

Steven Smith

Brisbane, Dec 19 (IANS) A blistering unbeaten 104-run partnership between captain Steven Smith (batting 110) and Mitchell Johnson (batting 67) took Australia to 351 for six, trailing India by 57 runs at lunch on day three of the second Test at the Gabba here on Friday.

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. It started out as India's best bowling session of the match and ended up as their worst.

The visitors began with discipline, attacking the channel outside off, and were rewarded with two early wickets. Ishant Sharma clean bowled Mitchell Marsh and then Varun Aaron got Haddin with a perfectly executed bouncer tactic. That, however, seemed to turn a switch in India, and they began bowling short balls indiscriminately, and Johnson feasted on them and ran away to a 37-ball half-century.

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. The Indian pacers stepped over the line with their aggressiveness and were made to pay dearly, especially Johnson. The left-hander carted the Indian bowlers all over the ground, smashing 10 fours and a six in his innings of 67 from 53 balls.

Smith took more calculated risks but was just as punishing to take his team to a strong position at the end of the session.

India

Murali Vijay c Haddin b Lyon 144

Shikhar Dhawan c Haddin b M Marsh 24

Cheteshwar Pujara c Haddin b Hazlewood 18

Virat Kohli c Haddin b Hazlewood 19

Ajinkya Rahane c Haddin b Hazlewood 81

Rohit Sharma c Smith b Watson 31

MS DhoniA c Haddin b Hazlewood 33

Ravichandran Ashwin c Watson b Hazlewood 35

Umesh Yadav c Rogers b Lyon 9

Varun Aaron c sub b Lyon 4

Ishant Sharma not out 1

Extras (b4, nb 1,w 2,lb 1) 8

Total (all out in 109.4 overs) 408

Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Dhawan, 13.4 overs), 2-100 (Pujara, 33.3), 3-137 (Kohli, 44.2), 4-261 (Vijay, 71.5), 5-321 (Rahane, 85.4), 6-328 (R. Sharma, 91.2), 7-385 (Ashwin, 102.3), 8-394 (Dhoni, 104.2), 9-407 (Aaron, 107.6), 10-408 (Yadav, 109.4)

Bowling

Mitchell Johnson 21-4-81-0

Josh Hazlewood 23.2-6-68-5

Mitchell Starc 17-1-83-0

Mitchell Marsh 6-1-14-1

Nathan Lyon 25.4-2-105-3

Shane Watson 14.4-6-39-1

David Warner 1-0-9-0

Steven Smith 1-0-4-0

Australia

Chris Rogers c Dhoni b Yadav 55

David Warner c Ashwin b Yadav 29

Shane Watson c Dhawan b Ashwin 25

Steven Smith battingA 110

Shaun Marsh c Ashwin b Yadav 32

Mitchell Marsh b I Sharma 11

Brad Haddin c Pujara b Aaron 6

Mitchell Johnson batting 67

Extras ( w 3, nb 10, lb 3) 16

Total (for six wickets in 75 overs) 351

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)

Bowling

Ishant Sharma 15-1-81-1

Varun Aaron 20-1-113-1

Umesh Yadav 18-3-68-3

Ravichandran Ashwin 22-3-86-1

Match Details

Toss: India chose to bat

Test debut: Josh Hazlewood (Australia)

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

TV umpire: Simon Fry

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)