India set Australia 384

Australia were 116/3 in the post-lunch session as they chased 384 runs. Michael Slater, Justin Langer and Mark Waugh were back in the pavilion.

Vangipurappu Laxman scored 281 runs before being dismissed as India declared their second innings at 657 for seven wickets against Australia in the second test on Thursday.

India added 68 runs to their overnight 589-4 before declaring midway through the morning session on the final day to set Australia a near impossible victory target of 384.

Australia lead the three-test series 1-0.

Laxman, who hit the highest test score by an Indian batsman on Wednesday, was out slashing paceman Glenn McGrath to Ricky Ponting at gully.

He faced 452 balls in a stay of just over 10.5 hours, hitting 44 boundaries and raised 376 runs for the fifth wicket with Rahul Dravid.

Dravid was run out for 180 in a mix-up with Zaheer Khan as India looked for quick runs before skipper Saurav Ganguly declared the innings.

Dravid struck 21 fours in his 353-ball innings which lasted 444 minutes

Mail Cricket Editor