STUMPS - DAY 3

India 283-0 (58) vs Aus 408 all out

Dhawan 185 (168b, 33x4, 2x6), Vijay 83 (181b, 10x4, 2x6)

In the final session, India scored 127 runs from 29 overs at a run rate of 4.38.

An amazing batting performance from Dhawan on his Test debut to blast 184 runs from a mere 161 balls and he is not done yet! He is on course to complete a double century and many more with a flat pitch on offer against a lacklustre Australian bowling attack.

Senior partner Vijay played his role to perfection and never looked to emulate Dhawan though he can also play some big shots. He played second fiddle to score 83 from 181 balls and supported his young partner well.

It turned out to be an entertaining day of cricket as 418 runs were scored in total in 96 overs.

If India continue this attacking approach on Day 4, they will put themselves in a good position to push for an unlikely victory in this rain-hit Test match.

STUMPS - DAY 3

India 283-0 (58) vs Aus 408 all out

Dhawan 185 (168b, 33x4, 2x6), Vijay 83 (181b, 10x4, 2x6)

Henriques is back in the attack but it hardly matters now as runs are leaking from everywhere. The medium pacer slips one down the leg side which Vijay glances fine on the leg side for a boundary.

Dhawan charges down the wicket to Doherty and smashes one straight down the ground for his second six. Vijay punches the final ball of that over through the covers for another four in that over.

Henriques provides Australia with some glimmer of hope as he breaks through Vijay's defence and hits him on the pads but the LBW appeal is turned down, it was hit quite high anyways!

Four overs to go and it will pace from both ends as Siddle comes back into the attack.

Dhawan seems to have shut shop for the day as he takes one from the fifth ball. Vijay flicks Henriques on the leg side for a four in the next over to move into the 80s.

India watchfully play out the last few overs to finish the day on 283 for no loss after 58 overs and now trail Australia by only 125 runs.

India 257-0 in 50 overs vs Australia 408 all out

Australia seem to have no answers now and seem to have given up virtually. Smith bowls three rank long hops in a row. While Vijay mistimes the first one for a single before Dhawan pulls the last two balls past the keeper fine on the leg side for back to back boundaries to take India past the 250-run mark.

After 50 overs, India are 257 for no loss.

Dhawan is charging towards his double century as he races to 173 from 146 balls with 33 fours and a six, while Vijay is on 71 from 161 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

India 237-0 (46) vs Aus 408 all out

Dhawan 158 (137b, 31x4, 1x6), Vijay 66 (140b, 7x4, 2x6)

Dhawan stepped down the wicket to Lyon and slams a full toss over midwicket for a four to take his score to 140 and register the highest score by an Indian batsman on debut. The previous record belonged to Gundappa Viswanath, who made 137 against Australia in Kanpur in November 1969.

Two balls later, he cut a wide short delivery for another four, his 28th of the innings.

Vijay continued the run fest as he charged down the wicket and lofted Lyon over midwicket to make it three boundaries in the over.

Doherty can only stare and admire as Dhawan yet again skips down the track and lofts it over the leg side for a four and then takes a single to complete his 150 in a mere 131 balls with the help of 29 fours and a six.

The Delhi left-hander becomes the first Indian and the 21st player overall to score 150 or more in his debut Test.

Part-timer Steve Smith is introduced into the attack now. He serves a waist high full toss to Dhawan, who calmly despatches it through midwicket for his 30th boundary of the innings. Smith gifts him another full toss and the result is the same.

Those two boundaries sees another record being broken for the highest opening partnership at this ground as India's score reaches 237 for no loss after 46 overs. The previous record was the 231-run opening stand between Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent in 2003.

India 208-0 in 42 overs vs Australia 408 all out

Dhawan on 134 (120b, 26x4, 1x6) Vijay on 61 (133b, 6x4, 2x6)

Dhawan and Vijay also brought up the highest opening stand at this venue, beating the previous record of 182 between Sehwag and Gambhir against Australia in October 2008.

Dhawan celebrates that milestone by casually jumping down the track to Lyon and lofting straight down the ground for his first six in Test cricket. The first time he has hit something in the air in his entertaining knock so far.

This is India's best opening wicket partnership against Australia in Test cricket beating the 192 runs between Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan at Mumbai in 1979.

The Australians have not yet gone on the defensive and have spread their fielders around unlike the Indians, who had a few fielders on the boundary at all times.

Dhawan has been almost perfect with his cover drive and he punishes a full delivery from Starc through that region for his 24th boundary and then slams a wide delivery past point to bring up India's 200.

The third boundary of the over is a special shot as Dhawan hardly seemed to have hit the ball but it races through the point region and all the Australians can do is watch and admire!

This is the 11th occassion that India has an opening stand of 200 or more in their 471st Test match.

Vijay makes a rare appearance in between as he paddle sweeps Lyon for his sixth boundary.

India are 170 for no loss after 34 overs

Dhawan is on 111 (97b, 22x4) and Vijay is on 51 (108b, 5x4, 2x6)

Lyon opens the bowling in the post tea session as India calmly collect three singles from that over. It's Siddle from the other end and he starts with a maiden over.

Dhawan resumes his boundary hunt after the break as he chips down the track to Lyon and drives him through the covers. In the next over, Vijay punches Siddle through that same region for another boundary before completing his fifty from 103 balls in the next over with two runs to midwicket from Lyon.

Dhawan hit 21 fours in his century, which means 84 out of his 100 runs came through boundaries. However, the record for most boundaries in a century belongs to former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

"Andrew Flintoff scored 88 runs in boundaries (19 fours & 2 sixes) vs NZ in 2002," writes ace statistician Rajneesh Gupta on Twitter.

At tea on Day 3, India were 153 runs from 29 overs.

So it was a session completely dominated by the two Indian openers, especially Dhawan who smashed his way to the fastest century by a debutant in Test cricket.

Dhawan, who raced to his century from just 85 balls, was unbeaten on 106 from 90 balls at the tea break. The left-hander hit as many as 21 boundaries in the post lunch session to leave the Australians stunned as he found the boundaries at will and was particularly harsh on the spinners.

Vijay proved to be a perfect foil from the other end as he played a composed knock of 42 from 85 balls, but he also targetted the spinner, hitting Nathan Lyon for two sixes in an over.

India scored 153 runs in 28 overs in that session scoring at more than 5.40 runs per over to take the wind out of the Aussie attack.

India 148-0 (27) vs Aus 408

Dhawan on 104 (85b, 21x4) and Vijay on 37 (77b, 3x4, 2x6)

Pace or spin, nothing seems to stop Dhawan's charge. He smashes a wide delivery from Starc through the off-side for 20th boundary to move into the 90s. And the next ball is way down the leg side to gift India another four byes.

Doherty after a horror opening spell of 4-0-34-0, including 18 runs in his last over, makes way for Siddle.

India have reached 134 after 24 overs, with the last 10 overs alone fetching 82 runs.

Dhawan gets a lifeline as he flashes at a wide delivery from Siddle but the fielder at gully fails to react in time as the thick edge flies past for a boundary to take the opener to 98.

He completes his century in less dramatic fashion with a single on the leg side and stealing a quick single and had to dive to make his ground.

Dhawan took just 85 balls to reach the landmark to complete the fastest century by a batsman on Test debut.

He is the 97th batsman overall and the 13th Indian to hit a century on debut.

The previous record of fastest 100 on Test debut was off 93 balls by Dwayne Smith against South Africa, at Cape Town, in 2004.

India 123-0 (23) vs Aus 408

Dhawan on 87 (73b, 19x4) and Vijay on 35 (65b, 3x4, 2x6)

This is easily one of the worst Australian teams to visit India in recent times. India starting with two relatively inexperienced openers yet they seem to be scoring at will.

Doherty slips one down the leg side and Vijay sweeps it fine to continue the flow of boundaries.

With Lyon being hit for 30 runs in his six overs, Australia replace him left-arm pacer Starc.

Dhawan brought up India's 100 in some style as he slapped a wide delivery from Starc past point for a four bringing up the mark in just 21.4 overs. The next ball is again hit through the same area which takes his boundary count to 15 in his score of 69 from 66 balls. Dhawan proving to be unstoppable at the moment!

Dhawan then has a go at Doherty hitting the left-arm spinner for four boundaries in his fourth over. Twice he jumped down the track and drove it through the covers, while also attempting the reverse sweep and the conventional sweep as Doherty was hit for 18 runs in that over.

Dhawan has raced to 87 from 73 balls as his boundary count rises to 19 with India's total zooming to 123 in 23 overs at an amazing run rate of 5.34.

Dhawan now just 13 runs away from an incredible century on debut. 

India 90-0 (20) vs Aus 408

Dhawan on 60 (60) and Vijay on 30 (60)

Henriques has been hit for 27 runs in four overs and he gives way to left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty.

Dhawan targets the left-arm spinner straightaway, hitting him for two boundaries in his first over, both smashed through the off-side.

He brought up his fifty in style hitting Lyon straight down the ground for a boundary, his 12th of the innings. His half-century came off just 50 balls as India go on the attack right from the start.

Vijay now joins the party as he slams Lyon for two more sixes in that same over, both times chipping down the track and lofting it over mid-on.

India running away with the contest at the moment as their score reaches 90 for no loss in 20 overs, scoring at 4.5 runs per over.

Dhawan is looking ominous on 60 from 60 balls, while Vijay has made 30 from as many balls.

India 57-0 (15) vs Aus 408

Dhawan on 40 (42) and Vijay on 17 (48)

Dhawan showing no nerves, instead he is taking on the Australians head on. The pitch is at its flattest and the debutant is making most of it to score some runs.

The Australian trying to use the short ball against Dhawan but that tactic has not worked so far. Henriques gentle medium pacer is hardly going to trouble the left-hander who pulls it easily through the leg side for a four before edging it past the slips off the next ball for another four.

Dhawan, it seems, has taken a liking to Henriques as he repeats the dose in his next over. He jumps down the track to Henriques, who adjusts his length but the Indian opener has enough to adjust and cream it through the covers to bring up the 50-run partnership in quick time. Two balls later, he slaps it past the point fielder to race to 40 from 39 balls, having hit nine boundaries already.

India 36-0 (10) vs Aus 408

Dhawan on 23 (24) and Vijay on 8 (30)

Dhawan is taking on the short balls as he pulls Starc behind square on the leg side for his third four in the seventh over. In the next over, Vijay gets his first four as he punches a short wide ball through the covers to take the score to 23.

The two Indian openers looking quite comfortable out with no help at all for the pace bowlers.

India are 23 for no loss after eight overs as medium pacer Moises Henriques comes on to replace Starc, who bowled four overs in his opening spell.

But there is no stopping Dhawan, who looks in a rush. He opened the face of the bat and steered the fourth ball of the over for a four before crashing the last ball through the covers.

Australia introduce spin in the 10th over with off-spinner Nathan Lyon replacing Siddle, who also bowled four overs in his opening spell. Vijay then chips down the track and lofts Lyon over the mid-on fielder to get a boundary and also signal his intentions.

Dhawan has raced to 23 from 24 balls with the help of five fours, while Vijay is content to play with the waiting game on eight from 30 balls.

India 12-0 (5) vs Aus 408

Dhawan on 9 (10) and Vijay on 3 (20)

Shikhar Dhawan gets off the mark in Test cricket with a single to the covers off the fourth ball he faced.

In the next over he announced his presence with a cracking boundary through the covers off Peter Siddle, who pitched it right up for his first boundary in Tests. Three balls later he pulled a short ball through the leg side for his second boundary.

Dhawan has got going from the start and looked to be positive, while his partner Murali Vijay is content to bide his time out in the middle.

LUNCH - DAY 3

India 3-0 (1 over)

Murali Vijay comfortably saw off Mitchell Starc in the only over before lunch. Starc bowled a couple down the leg side while the last ball was beautifully timed by Vijay through the covers before a dive from David Warner kept it down to three.


Australia are bowled out for 408 in their first innings.

Ashwin ends the Australian innings as he dismisses Xavier Doherty leg before wicket for five to claim his second wicket of the innings. Lyon finished on nine not out from 44 balls.

The first session belonged to Australia as they scored 135 runs in 37.5 overs while losing three wickets.

A much better showing from the Australian batsmen after their disappointing performances in the last two games.

Starc and Smith both missed centuries but made sure that Australia posted a safe total. Smith made 92 before he was stumped by Jadeja, while Starc missed the chance to score a hundred at No. 9 when he fell caught behind to Ishant.

The wickets were equally shared among the Indian bowlers. Ishant (3 for 72) and Jadeja (3 for 77) took three wickets each while Ashwin and Ojha took two for 97 and two for 98 respectively.

Bhuvneshwar got only nine overs in the Indian innings, most of which he bowled with the first new ball.

India will have to face just one over before the lunch break.

Aus 399-9 (139) vs India

Ishant Sharma is back into the attack now as India continue to juggle their bowlers.

Starc moves to within one hit of a hundred as he edges a wide delivery from Ishant that falls short of Kohli at first slip and runs away for a four. The left-hander is on 96 now and in sight of his maiden Test hundred. What a superb fightback by the Australian tailenders.

Starc and Lyon bring up the 50-wicket partnership from 78 balls for the ninth wicket with Lyon contributing just five runs in that stand.

Jadeja gifts Starc a full toss which he drives through for a couple before taking a single to long-off to move to 99.

Starc has a nervy moment on 99 as he throws his bat at a wide delivery from Ishant but is lucky that he didn't get an edge and repeated his mistake two balls later but yet again it missed the edge.

But he perished off the very next delivery. He again flashed his bat at a wide outswinger and this time it took the edge and Dhoni completed a good diving catch.

While Ishant and the rest of the Indian team celebrated, Starc was left stunned and didn't move for a minute or two and even the Australian dressing room was left stunned.

WICKET: Starc c Dhoni b Sharma 99 (144b, 14x4, 146)

Starc was the major contributor in the ninth-wicket partnership of 51 runs from 88 balls for the ninth with Lyon, who made five.

Aus 390-8 (135) vs India

Starc batting on 92 (132b, 13x4), Lyon on 5* (33b)

Starc tries another heave on the leg side and yet again the inside edge misses the stumps and goes for a boundary behind the wicket.

Meanwhile, India bring back Jadeja to replace Ashwin to have left arm-spinners bowling from both ends.

Starc pushes Jadeja to long-off for a single to move into the 90s as his dream of getting a Test century inches closer to reality.

Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon is also growing in confidence. He drives a full delivery from Ojha back past him beating mid-off on the way for his first boundary.

Australia have already scored 117 runs in 31 overs while losing only one wicket.

Aus 373-8 (130) vs India

Starc batting on 81 (116b, 12x4), Lyon on 0* (13b)

Starc scoring some useful runs for Australia here. Ojha drops one short and Starc hits it through the cover region for a boundary followed by a couple from the next delivery.

He looks to drive a full delivery but inside edge goes close to his stumps and beats Dhoni for a boundary behind the stumps as the runs keep coming.

The left-hander then looks to slog sweep Ojha but gets a thick inside edge for another four behind square on the leg side to take his score to 73.

Starc continues to frustrate the Indians as he keeps finding the boundaries. Ashwin delivers one wide and Starc is quick to cut it behind point for another four as the runs continue to flow.

Aus 348-8 (125) vs India

M Starc batting on 56 (94b), N Lyon 0* (5b)

Ojha finally gets the all-important breakthrough as he gets the wicket of Smith, who is stumped after a good knock of 92 from 185 balls, having hit 10 fours and a six.

The ball angled in with the arm before it turned right across the defensive prod of Smith, who was dragged out of his crease and Dhoni completed a sharp stumping.

WICKET: Smith st Dhoni b Ojha 92 (185b, 10x4, 1x6)

It took India more than an hour on the third morning to claim the first wicket.

Smith called back into the side after nearly two years made an useful contribution to bail Australia out of trouble. He put on 97 runs from 156 balls with Starc to register the highest eighth wicket prtnership at this ground.

Aus 347-7 (123) vs India

Smith batting on 91 (183) and Starc on 56 (89)

Smith flicks Ashwin through the leg side for a four to take his score to 88, the best in the Australian first innings so far.

Starc repeats the shot in the next over as hits Jadeja for a boundary to bring up his half-century from 86 balls. The momentum is shifting towards Australia as both Smith and Starc continue to milk the bowling with relative ease, no pressure at all.

Ojha also concedes a boundary in his next over as Starc punishes a short ball through the cover region. A couple of singles for Smith in that over as he moves into the 90s.

Aus 325-7 (120) vs India

Smith batting on 84 (177) and Starc on 45 (77)

India's highest wicket-taker in the innings Ravindra Jadeja comes into the attack now and he replaces Ishant, who has been disappointing with both the old ball and new ball today.

The field is well spread out and all India is looking for now is to frustrate the two Australian batsmen but they are content to do it in singles.

Jadeja has a huge appeal for LBW against Smith (84) turned down. That stayed a bit low but was sliding down the leg side and that was a good decision from umpire Aleem Dar.

Aus 310-7 (112) vs India

Smith batting on 75 (154b) and Starc 39 (52)

India took the second new ball after 108 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the first bite with the new ball but even he drifted on Starc's pads who flicked it on the leg side for a couple.

Smith smashed a full delivery from Ishant powerfully back past the bowler for a boundary and the next ball was hit through the covers for a couple to bring up Australia's 300 in the 110th over.

The duo also brought up the 50-run partnership from 69 balls for the eighth wicket as Australia continued to inch themselves towards a healthy first innings total.

Ishant has been disappointing on Day 3 and all he has done since the start is to give away runs. Starc causes Ishant more pain as he lofts him straight down the ground for a boundary that takes his score to 39.

The Indian bowlers have been a big disappointment so far. They need to strike quickly or else Australia will run towards a healthy total in the first innings.

Aus 291-7 (108) vs India

Ashwin bowls the first over on Day and facing him is left-hander Mitchell Starc, who flicks the last ball of the over on the leg side for a single.

Ishant bowls the second over. He tries a short ball at Starc who initially takes a small step forward but still manages to pull it with some authority through square leg for the first boundary of the day.

Steven Smith is quick to jump down the track to AShwin, playing it down the ground to long on for one. Starc has been very positive this morning as he flicks Ashwin before square on the leg side for a boundary.

Ishant still getting some reverse but he is a bit too straight. The ball drifts on Smith's pads who flicks it through square leg for his first boundary of the day that takes his score to 65.

Smith batting on 66 from 144 balls, Starc on 30 from 38 balls.

Aus 273-7 (104) vs India

India will be hoping to finish off the remaining three Australian wickets and end their first innings early on the third day of the third Test in Mohali, on Saturday.

Australia got off to a good start as the openers put on 137 for the opening wicket before their batsmen yet again crumbled against the Indian spinners.

The vistors will resume on their overnight score of 237-7 with Steven Smith on 58 (137 balls) and Mitchell Starc on 20 (21).

Once again the match will start early on Day 3 at 0900 hours to make up for the time lost as the opening day was washed out due to rain.