ADELAIDE: Australia fought their way back in the fourth and final cricket Test against India with an unusually sedate batting response to take their first innings total to a comfortable 322 for three, largely built around Matthew Hayden's 30th century on Saturday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 62 for no loss in reply to India's mammoth first innings total of 526, the generally fast-scoring Australians adopted a cautious approach as they curbed their natural stroke-making instincts to give a suitable response to the visitors.
Captain Ricky Ponting, who hung in resolutely with a laboured unbeaten 79 and Michael Clarke (37) were at the crease at close on the third day with the hosts still trailing by 204 runs.
With the Adelaide Oval track expected to deteriorate to some extent in the remaining two days, the home team has still some work to do to feel completely safe in this crucial Test which India desperately needs to win to level the series 2-2.
After the towering opener Hayden (103) had done the spadework with his sixth century against the Indians, skipper Ponting, who has been struggling to find peak form in the series, held the innings together with his painstaking knock which came off 150 balls.
The Aussies managed to score just 260 runs today, which is quite a slow rate for their standard, but they ensured that they still have plenty of wickets intact.
Hayden and fellow opener Phil Jacques (60) provided the platform for the Australians with a 159-run partnership on a day which saw the Indians bowling well in patches.
Scoreboard
India, 1st Innings 526
Australia, 1st Innings:
Phil Jaques b Kumble 60
Matthew Hayden b Sharma 103
Ricky Ponting batting 79
Michael Hussey b Pathan 22
Michael Clarke batting 37
Extras (5b,8lb,1w,7nb) 21
Total (for 3 wkts, 111 overs) 322
Fall of wickets: 1-159, 2-186, 3-241.
Bowling: R.P. Singh 4-0-14-0, Irfan Pathan 24-1-70-1,Ishant Sharma 22-5-47-1, Harbhajan Singh 28-4-70-0, Anil Kumble 21-3-78-1, Virender Sehwag 8-1-18-0, Sachin Tendulkar 1-0-6-0, Sourav Ganguly 3-1-6-0.
