CRICKET: Openers Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid guided India to six for no wicket in their second innings as they set about chasing a mammoth 499 for victory over Australia on the third day of the first Test in Melbourne yesterday.
Jaffer was on two and Dravid three after Ricky Ponting had declared Australia's second innings closed on 351 for seven, with about 40 minutes of play remaining.
Brad Hogg was 35 not out, his highest Test score, while Brett Lee was 11 not out when Ponting declared.
The highest total batting fourth on the Melbourne Cricket Ground was the 417 set by England in the Centenary Test in 1977, chasing 463 for victory.
Australia are seeking their 15th successive Test victory and chasing the world record of 16 wins in a row set by Steve Waugh's Australia team from 1999-2001.
Australia's bowlers picked up where they left off in the first innings with an exacting period of bowling as the shadows lenghthened across the ground.
Ponting changed his attack several times, with Lee, Johnson, Stuart Clark and Hogg all attempting to get a wicket.
Michael Clarke, who top-scored for Australia with 73 before he was stumped by Mahendra Dhoni off the bowling of India captain Anil Kumble, said it was difficult to score on the low and slow wicket.
"It's really hard to start your innings," Clarke said. "As the ball gets older it's difficult to score. We noticed it was reverse swinging a bit as the ball got older and you have to be patient and . . . work as hard as possible."
Opener Phil Jaques, who scored 66 in the first innings, made 51 before being caught and bowled by Kumble, while all-rounder Andrew Symonds contributed an aggressive 44 before he was trapped in front by Zaheer Khan just before tea.
Symonds could have been dismissed earlier, having been clean bowled by Khan, off a no ball. To add insult to injury, Symonds and Clarke added an extra run while the Indians celebrated before noticing umpire Billy Bowden's outstretched arm.
Symonds also nicked Khan between wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni and first slip for a boundary two balls before Khan got a delivery, that would have hit middle stump, to nip back.
Mike Hussey was caught by Sachin Tendulkar off RP Singh for 36, while Matthew Hayden was caught by Saurav Ganguly at long off for 47 and Ponting was caught by Dravid at slip for three.
Harbhajan Singh finished with three for 101, while Kumble had two wickets for 102.
"The wicket was getting slower and slower," said Harbhajan, whose dismissal of Ponting was his 250th Test wicket.
"I bowled a little bit slower in the second innings. I was trying to use different sorts of angles because there wasn't much spin. Those variations needed to be used."
Clarke said there was still the possibility India could sneak the win. "India have a very strong batting line-up," he said. "The reality is they need 493 runs and have two days to get it, but I believe that if we bowl as well as we can and hold our chances I think there is a possibility the game could be over tomorrow."
FIRST TEST
Australia v India(in Melbourne)
Overnight: India 196 (S Tendulkar 62; S Clark 4-28, B Lee 4-46) Australia 343 (M Hayden 124, P Jaques 66; A Kumble 5-84, Z Khan 4-94) and 32-0.
Australia Second Innings
P Jaques c & b Kumble 51
M Hayden c Ganguly b Harbhajan Singh 47
R Ponting c Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 3
M K Hussey c Tendulkar b RP Singh 36
M Clarke st Dhoni b Kumble 73
A Symonds lbw b Khan 44
A Gilchrist c R P Singh b Harbhajan Sing 35
G Hogg not out 35
B Lee not out 11
Extras(lb3 nb13) 16
Total(7 wkts dec, 88 overs) ... 351
Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-89, 3-139, 4-161, 5-243, 6-288, 7-316.
Did not bat: S Clark, M Johnson.
Bowling: Khan 20-2-93-1, RP Singh 16-1-50-1, Kumble 25-2-102-2, Harbhajan Singh 26-0-101-3, Tendulkar 1-0-2-0.
India Second Innings
R Dravid not out 3
W Jaffer not out 2
Extras(nb1) 1
Total(0 wkts, 8 overs) ... 6
To bat: VVS Laxman, S Tendulkar, S Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, M Dhoni, A Kumble, Z Khan, RP Singh, Harbhajan Singh.
Bowling: Lee 3-1-4-0, Johnson 2-1-2-0, Clark 2-2-0-0, Hogg 1-1-0-0.
