Mitchell Johnson’s hostile early spell put Australia in command before Shane Watson and Michael Clarke made sure they stayed there at tea on day three of the first Test against India.
Having resumed at 0-68 in reply to Australia’s 430 in Bangalore, the Indians limped to 6-210 with a session to play at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Johnson (3-42) tore through the best of the home side’s batting, defeating Virender Sehwag (45), Sachin Tendulkar (13) and VVS Laxman (0).
After lunch, Watson (1-28) chimed in to claim Rahul Dravid (51) lbw to an inswinger.
Debutant legspinner Cameron White (0-23) confused Sourav Ganguly (38no) and Mahendra Dhoni (nine) in a useful spell before tea, largely by bowling dead straight balls on a dusty surface when it would appear to have been easier to spin them.
His straightness contributed indirectly to Dhoni’s wicket just before the break, when the Indian ‘keeper was bowled on the back foot by a delivery from Clarke (1-22) that turned just enough to beat the outside edge and crash into off stump.
Tendulkar entered this series needing another 77 runs to pass Brian Lara as the leading runscorer in Test cricket, but he could manage only reduce that to 64 before presenting White with a first Test catch.
Needing an early wicket to establish a foothold in the innings after an off-colour start in the field on Friday night, the Australians found one through the pace and accuracy of Brett Lee (1-32).
– AAP
