'I was in disbelief that Clarke got out for under 100'

Had it not been for Moises Henriques Team India would be celebrating on Tuesday.

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However, the debutant's resilient 75 not out has not only ensured Australia avoid innings defeat but also taken the game to a fifth day.

Though the result seems like a foregone conclusion, with Henriques having only delayed the inevitable, the player isn't willing to give up yet.

"We haven't lost this Test yet. There's certainly hope," he said, in a media interaction shortly after the end of day's play.

Wishful thinking, it might seem. But the 26-year-old can be given the benefit of doubt considering he has had a Test debut to remember.

Apart from his defiant knock in the Australian second innings, Henriques also made an equally valuable 68 in the first, and during the course of the latter helped Michael Clarke put on vital 151 runs for the sixth wicket, a partnership that consolidated the Australian total.

A similar partnership with his captain would have done the trick in the second innings as well had Clarke (31) been fortunate enough.

"I was in disbelief that Michael Clarke got out for under 100," admitted Henriques.

"It was always going to take a ball like that to get someone who puts such a high price on his wicket," he added.

As things panned out Henriques found an ally in Nathan Lyon, the two putting on an unbroken 57-run stand for the last wicket, the latter surviving 47 balls for his eight runs.

It was a partnership that saved the visitors from the ignominy of an innings defeat. It was a partnership that offered them hope.

"If Nathan can bat as well as he did today, and I get in a few more tomorrow, then you just don't know what can happen," said Henriques.

"We might just give Nathan a few more runs to defend," he added, before quickly proceeding to rule out a target.

"We can't be setting targets. But we will certainly be batting as well as we can," said the all-rounder.

It was Henriques' dogged determination that converted a lost cause into a glimmer of hope. And it is his emergence as a reliable option that has given the Australian team courage to cope.