 India eyeing a sensational win at Perth
18th Jan 2008 18:01 IST
Agencies
Laxman came to the crease with India tottering at 125/5 and coaxed others to stay long enough with him for India to get their requisite total. The stylish Hyderabad batsman had stands of 75 and 51 for the seventh and ninth wicket with Dhoni and RP Singh (30), which changed the complexion of the innings.
India were down in the dumps in the first session when they lost four wickets, a situation, which was worsened when another fell just after the lunch resumption.
India's batting cream was gone in this session as Sehwag (43), Rahul David (3), Sachin Tendulkar (13) and Sourav Ganguly (0) returned to the pavilion in quick succession.
Sehwag and overnight batsman Pathan gave India the necessary start when they added 27 runs in the first half an hour to the overnight score of 52/1.
Stuart Clark at this stage gave Australia the breakthrough which was quickly seized upon from the other end by an irrepressible Brett Lee.
Clark managed to slip one past the defences of Sehwag who shaped to flick on the legside and the ball brushed his pads to rattle the middle stump. Sehwag batted for 85 minutes and hit seven fours from 60 balls.
Then the slump began as Lee took out Dravid and Tendulkar from the equation.
Dravid faced just five balls before he edged a catch behind the stumps while Tendulkar fell leg before for 13 as Lee finished his extended morning spell for figures of 8-1-22-2.
Mitchell Johnson put Australia right on top when he induced Ganguly to drive from away and edge a catch to Michael Clarke at first slip.
India were 158/5 at lunch break, which quickly became 160/6 when night watchman Pathan edged Clark in the slips. Pathan made an impressive 46 from over two hours of batting during which he hit six fours from 64 balls.
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