New Delhi, March 5: Ishant Sharma struck in the third over of the fourth day as he had Shane Watson caught behind by MS Dhoni in the second Test at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Ishant bowled a swinging delivery down the leg side, Watson flicked it and Dhoni dived to his left to pouch it. This is Ishant's first wicket in this series.
The day's play started with Ed Cowan and Watson resuming Australia's second innings.
Day 4 could be a telling day in this Test as India hunt for a victory whereas Australia will first try to survive and if they succeed they will think of how to go about the game from there on.
On Day 3, Cowan's batting did not look pretty to the eye but he hung in there and applied himself appropriately with strong defensive strokes. Watson joined him and played a good mix of attacking as well as defensive shots.
Australia tried their level best to hang in there on Day 3, but the Indian spinners kept coming at them with probing flight and turn. When some loose deliveries came by, they went after them and perished.
David Warner was bowled round his legs while playing the sweep off R Ashwin who struck again when Phil Hughes' intended sweep came off the glove and disturbed the furniture.
With footmarks on the pitch becoming more prominent, Ashwin's double strike complemented Cheteshwar Pujara's fabulous double century. His record second-wicket partnership with opener Murali Vijay (167) fetched India a lead of 266 runs.
Vijay and Pujara made merry against the Australian attack that lacked sting and bite. In realising 370 runs for the second wicket, an Indian record, they put in the shade Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar's unbroken stand of 344 against the West Indies in Kolkata in 1978-79.
The second session was a glaring contrast with India losing seven wickets in 31.1 overs for a further 103 runs. Sachin Tendulkar feathered a touch down the leg side off Pattinson and umpire Marias Erasmus went upstairs to confirm if the catch was cleanly taken by Matthew Wade.
MS Dhoni's dash was cut short when Doherty took the catch on second attempt at mid-off off his spin twin Maxwell, who profited from the Indian batsmen's quest for quick runs.
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