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