India held the advantage in a tantalisingly poised second Test against Australia by the close of the third day's play which saw some gritty batting by the home side and yet another superb bowling performance by AnilKumble.
Trailing by 141 runs in the first innings, the visitors reshuffled their batting order and managed to wipe the deficit, reaching 150 for 4 at close at theChidambaram Stadium today.
First innings hero Kumble removed the two Aussie openers in quick succession before clean bowling the dangerous Adam Gilchrist in the penultimate over of the day to swing the momentum in his team'sfavour.
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Gilchrist promoted himself to the number three position and the move seemed to pay dividends as he led the Australian fightback with a 49-run knock before Kumble struck.
Indians would now be looking to wrap up the Australian innings as quickly as possible tomorrow as even a target of 150 could pose problems for them on a deteriorating track.
Earlier, India relied on a record 102-run seventh wicket partnership between Mohammad Kaif (64) and Parthiv Patel (54) to take a vital 141-run first innings lead before being bowled out for 376, 40 minutes after the lunch break.
The bat dominated the ball for a change as against the proceedings on the first two days. It was another entertaining day's cricket with 335 runsbeign scored while eight wickets fell.
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Kumble's dismissal of the Australian captain might have tilted the scales slightly in India'sfavour.
With shadows lengthening, the leg spinner bowled a perfect wrong 'un to bowl Gilchrist around his legs.
Only the previous delivery, the left-hander had gloved a similar ball as he tried to sweep to fine leg but Patel, having a horrible time behind the stumps with two missed catches of Matthew Hayden, failed to pick it.
But Kumble was overjoyed, for it was his sixth 10-wicket haul of his career.
Gilchrist until that moment of bad shot selection was leading from the front. He was unconvincing against the slow bowlers but helped the scoreboard keep ticking.
Damien Martyn (19 not out) combined with his captain to pitch in some valuable runs with sharp running between the wickets.
Mathew Hayden (39) and Justin Langer (19) provided the visitors with the brisk start needed as they put on a half century stand for the first wicket for the second time in the match.
Kumble broke their association immediately after tea when Langer pushed at him and edged it to Rahul Dravid in the slips.
Hayden failed once again with his sweep shot and skied a top spinner from Kumble toVVS Laxman at mid-wicket.
Zaheer Khan bowled with intensity he had not shown before in the series and a searing reverse swing trapped Simon Katich (9) plumb in front.
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Patel, for all his good work with the bat, left much to be desired with his his glovework.
He had problems in picking the variations of the spinners, and his misery was heightened when he had to keep for the left-handed batsmen as he had to cover his wrong side.
He dropped Hayden on zero off Zaheer and on 21 off Kumble.
But his batting proved to be fruitful as Kaif and he shared a vital partnership to stretch the Indian lead.
Patel also 'walked' after he was caught behind off Shane Warne, his knock of 54 coming off 121 balls and with the help of seven fours.
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Kaif (64) was heroic as he celebrated his Test recall after a gap of three years with a half century.
He came back to bat for the second time with a runner after retiring hurt due to dehydration.
Ironically, Kaif, the most athletic in the team, was run out after he ran for a single by instinct. When he realised Yuvraj Singh was completing the run for him, he was struck by cramps and could not make it back to the crease in time.
Under energy sapping conditions, which forced two drinks break in the evening session and an extended one in the morning, Warne (6-125) claimed his first five-wicket haul in India.
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It was his 28th career five-for and put him third behind Muttiah Muralitharan (44) and Sir Richard Hadlee (37) in the all-time list.
PTI
