1st Test: Aus dealt quick blows after tea

Mohali: Australia lost the wickets of Tim Paine and Mitchell Johnson straight after tea on day four of the first Test against India at Mohali on Monday.

Harbhajan Singh got the better off Michael Hussey and Marcus North in quick succession to leave Australia in trouble at 165/6 at tea.

Earlier, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma produced a hostile spell to grab three quick wickets on a dead track and reduce Australia to 100 for three in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day of the first cricket Test here on Monday.

Australia have an overall lead of 123 runs courtesy a slender 23-run first-innings lead. Opener Simon Katich is batting on 24 while Michael Hussey is yet to open his account.

Watson smashed 56 off only 59 deliveries -- an innings which was in stark contrast to his toiling century in the first essay -- before Ishant snared three quick wickets to bring India right back in the match.

Watson added 87 runs with Simon Katich for the opening stand before Ishant bowled a deadly second spell from the pavillion end to dismiss the all-rounder, rival captain Ricky Ponting and his deputy Michael Clarke in a space of two overs to bring the hosts right back into the match.

Ishant, who started in an erratic manner giving away 17 runs in two overs, had brilliant figures of 3-2-8-3 to show for in his second spell. His pre-lunch session figures read 5-2-25-3.

Among his three victims, Watson should curse himself for doing a hara-kiri.

Ishant bowled one wide outside the off-stump and the opener went for a wild slog over deep mid-wicket but dragged it back onto his stumps. Watson hit seven boundaries and a huge six off Pragyan Ojha during his knock.

Ponting started with a boundary but Ishant got his man when the Australian skipper pulled a short one straight into the hands of backward square leg which was specifically stationed for that particular shot. Suresh Raina took a well-judged catch.

The lanky speedster from Delhi was over the moon when he got Michael Clarke to flick one to short mid-wicket where Virender Sehwag was standing.

However, as Clarke was about to walk back, umpire Billy Bowden, who had apprehensions that Ishant may just have overstepped, referred to third umpire Sanjay Hazare.

The television replays showed that Ishant had overstepped and Bowden's decision was vindicated.

However, Clarke's joy was shortlived as the pacer got a nasty snorter right into the Aussie vice-captain's rib cage and the ball ballooned to captain Dhoni.

The Australians, however, started in the right earnest as Watson and Katich both showed positive intent from the beginning.

While Watson was determined to hit anything that was pitched on his area, Katich was keen to play the second fiddle rotating the strike.

Watson made his intentions clear from the very first over as Zaheer went for 10. In the first five overs, the pace duo went for 47 runs.

Indian skipper went on the defensive introducing spinners from both ends. However, Watson launched into Ojha hitting him for a big six as 50 came up in only 6.4 overs.

Harbhajan, however, bowled a tidy spell from the other end. Just when it looked that Australians are taking a firm grip, Ishant struck those deadly blows to bring India back.

Ishant sparks fightback after Watson's fifty

Ishant Sharma picked up three wickets in his liveliest spell of the match as India halted Australia's growing lead on the fourth day in Mohali. Shane Watson's brisk half-century took Australia's advantage into triple figures before he and Ricky Ponting fell in the first over of Ishant's second spell, shortly before lunch.

When Michael Clarke chipped a catch to midwicket first ball, it looked like Ishant had claimed three breakthroughs in one over. However, confusion reigned as the umpire Billy Bowden stopped Clarke from walking off, radioed the third official Sanjay Hazare to check on a suspected no-ball, and found that Ishant had overstepped.

Clarke's reprieve was short-lived, though, and in Ishant's next over he could not evade a sharp and well-directed bouncer that lobbed off his gloves to the wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. Australia had rapidly fallen from 87 for 1 to 96 for 3, and the momentum was suddenly with India after Watson's excellent start.

The Australians began the morning with a lead of 23 and they could not have asked for a better opening than the 67 runs Watson and Simon Katich put on in the first hour. Watson was the aggressor, cutting and driving with precision, and he also launched Pragyan Ojha over the midwicket boundary with a powerful slog-sweep.

He moved to his half-century from 51 deliveries, but Dhoni's decision to reintroduce Ishant for a second spell in the final half hour of the session proved a triumph. Watson (56) tried to pull Ishant's first delivery from wide of off stump through midwicket, but a bottom edge dislodged his bail to give Ishant his first wicket of the Test.

Ponting eased his first ball to the cover boundary but fell facing his fourth delivery when he pulled Ishant straight to Suresh Raina at square leg. The loss of Clarke shortly afterwards left Australia in the hands of Simon Katich, who was on 24 at the lunch break, along with Michael Hussey yet to score.

Katich had enjoyed a couple of lucky breaks - he should have been lbw to Harbhajan Singh for 7 and on 9 he edged Harbhajan between Dhoni and Rahul Dravid at first slip. With the exception of Watson, the Australian batsmen did not find runs easy to come by on the fourth morning and, with a lead of only 123 and seven wickets in hand, they need a big partnership to ensure they bat out the day.

Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at Cricinfo