(REUTERS) – A double strike from Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson put the brakes on an aggressive reply from India late on day two of the first Test yesterday.
Opener Virender Sehwag struck a 54-ball 59 with the help of 10 fours as India reached 110 for two at the close, after Zaheer Khan’s five-wicket haul had restricted Australia to 428 in their first innings.
Rahul Dravid (21) and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma (0) will return today hoping to erase the 318-run deficit.
Australia had made it past the 400-mark thanks to a career-best 92 from Tim Paine, with Shane Watson departing in the morning session after a well-compiled 126.
Watson, dropped twice on Friday, departed when Harbhajan Singh orchestrated a bat-pad dismissal to cut short the opener’s 338-ball knock.
Paine, dropped by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Zaheer on Friday, made the most of the reprieve in company of Johnson (47), raising 82 runs for the seventh wicket.
Zaheer removed Johnson to break the stand and returned to dismiss Paine and complete his five-wicket haul with the batsman eight runs short of his maiden Test century.
Paine faced 196 balls during his patient innings, hitting 12 boundaries in the process.
“I wanted to spend some time in the middle and get used to the conditions … and bat as long as I can,” the Australian said.
“At some stage it looked difficult but I’m happy with the total.”
“It was also nice to get Sehwag tonight. He puts a lot of pressure on the bowlers but at the same time, if you bowl enough balls in the right areas, he will give you chances.”
Sehwag wasted little time in asserting himself in the reply and was particularly harsh on Doug Bollinger.
Losing opening partner Gautam Gambhir (25) to Johnson had little impact on Sehwag who kept scoring freely until the pacer induced a leading edge in the penultimate over of the day to send him back.
Zaheer praised left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who did bulk of the bowling duty to make up for Sharma’s absence due to a knee injury on Friday.
“Full credit to Ojha. After Ishant got injured, one bowler needed to bowl longer. He did a fantastic job. He kept tight at one end and helped me and Bhajji (Harbhajan) to attack in short bursts,” Zaheer said.

AUSTRALIA first innings (overnight 224-5)
S. Watson c Gambhir b Singh    126
S. Katich lbw b Khan    6
R. Ponting run-out    71
M. Clarke c Dravid b Singh    14
M. Hussey lbw b Khan    17
M. North b Khan    0
T. Paine c Laxman b Khan    92
M. Johnson c Dhoni b Khan    47
N. Hauritz c Gambhir b Singh    9
B. Hilfenhaus not out    20
D. Bollinger c Sharma b Ojha    0
Extras: (b-4, lb-9, nb-13)    26
Total (all out, 151.4 overs)    428
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-154, 3-172, 4-218, 5-222, 6-275, 7-357, 8-373, 9-427.
Bowling: Khan 30-7-94-5, Sharma 11.4-1-71- 0, Ojha 51.4-16-113-1, Singh 49-12-114-3, Sehwag 9.2-1-23-0.
INDIA first innings
G. Gambhir lbw Johnson    25
V. Sehwag c Clarke b Johnson    59
R. Dravid not out    21
I. Sharma not out    0
Extras: (b-1, lb-4)    5
Total: (2 wickets, 21 overs)    110
Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-106.
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 9-0-39-0, Bollinger 4-0-22-0, Johnson 6-1-29-2, Hauritz 2-0-15-0.