Indian tail wags to Australia's frustration
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Tail-blazers: Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan took on the Australian attack late on day three. (Reuters: Punit Paranjpe)
Tail-enders Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan put on an 80-run partnership for the eighth wicket to spoil what was an otherwise dominant display by Mitchell Johnson and the Australian bowlers on the third day of the first Test against India in Bangalore.
The Indian tail was exposed at 7 for 232 when Sourav Ganguly (47) was trapped lbw by Johnson after tea, before the fearless pair slashed their side to a respectable 8 for 313 when stumps was called due to bad light.
Harbhajan was the last man dismissed for a dominant 54, which included five boundaries, when he top-edged a hook shot to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin off the bowling of Shane Watson (2 for 37).
Zaheer finished unbeaten on 35, his knock also including five boundaries, while captain Anil Kumble was yet to score.
India is still 117 runs behind Australia's first innings total of 430. View a complete run-down of the day's action with our scorecard.
It was a frustrating final session for the Australians, as momentum took a sharp turn towards the hosts as Harbhajan and Zaheer battered the visitors' attack with a reckless array of shots.
An incident between Zaheer and Haddin moments before the tea break looked to inspire the side's biggest and quickest partnership of the innings against the second new ball on a deteriorating wicket offering inconsistent bounce.
Harbhajan initially took the lead, dispatching any loose bowling to the boundary with some cracking shots while on occasion charging down the pitch to deal with the likes of Brett Lee and Stuart Clark (0 for 58).
Zaheer quickly joined in on the act with a number of thumping straight drives of both the traditional and industrious variety.
The relief was obvious amongst the Australians when Harbhajan's wicket was taken, bringing silence back to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium that had seen Johnson break through the Indian top order earlier in the day.
Johnson leads the charge
Johnson finished the day with figures of 4 for 62 off 20 overs after claiming the scalps of Virender Sehwag (45), Sachin Tendulkar (13), VVS Laxman (0) and Ganguly to put his side well and truly in command.
Three of Johnson's wickets came for only 19 runs before lunch, the first after luring Sehwag into a false wide shot which went straight to Matthew Hayden at first slip after new ball partner Brett Lee (1 for 49) trapped Gautam Gambhir in front for 21.
Initially struggling for line and length, Johnson then grabbed his second wicket of the morning session with a deceptive full-pitched slower ball which Tendulkar plodded straight to Test debutant Cameron White at extra cover.
Tendulkar departed still 65 runs short of breaking Brian Lara's Test record of 11,953 runs, after being given a lifeline early in his innings when a mix-up with Rahul Dravid had him stranded for his ground.
Johnson then followed up the big wicket with a beautiful delivery across Laxman, who duly edged to Haddin behind the stumps to have the hosts on the back foot at 4 for 106.
The resilient Dravid shared a partnership of 49 with Ganguly, before being unluckily adjudged lbw off the bowling of Watson for a well-made 51 despite the the local hero seemingly well forward when the ball struck his front pad.
Retiring veteran Ganguly put on 40 runs with MS Dhoni before the superstar keeper had his off stump uprooted after a lazy defensive shot to a Michael Clarke off spinner.
Ganguly's dismissal, straight after he received treatment for a blood nose, was another example of the Indian batsmen's inability to push on to a much-needed century.
