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Australia ended Day 4 on 75 for 3 after Bhuvaneshwar Kumar wreaked havoc picking all three wickets. Phil Hughes struck a 50 and Australia trail by 16 runs with one more day of the Test still to play.
Earlier, riding high on Murali Vijay's fantastic 153 and triple strike from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India have ended the day on a high, here in Mohali on Sunday.
After conceding a 91-run first innings lead, the visitors were struggling at 75 for three at stumps, on the penultimate day with Bhuvneshwar producing a brilliant spell to remove openers David Warner (2), Ed Cowan (8) and Steven Smith (5), who was promoted ahead of injured captain Michael Clarke.
At stumps, Phillip Hughes (53 batting) is fighting hard in company of nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (4).
Earlier, opener Murali Vijay became the second Indian to score a ton in the Mohali Test, after Australians struck in the opening session with the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara.
At lunch on the fourth and penultimate day, India were 384 for three, 24 runs behind Australia's 408 all out.
Vijay was batting on 142 while Sachin Tendulkar got out for 37 -- caught by Ed Cowan at forward short-leg off Steven Smith – in what should have been the last over before lunch.
Resuming on 283 for no loss, Dhawan (187) and Cheteshwar Pujara were the two other batsmen to have been dismissed, besides Tendulkar.
The 27-year-old Dhawan, after his record-breaking feat, was sent back after he could add just two runs to his overnight score of 185.
He spent 251 minutes at the crease, faced 174 balls and smashed 33 fours besides hitting two sixes.
Nathan Lyon was the beneficiary as the southpaw hit straight to Ed Cowan at silly point in the second over of the day.
Next man Pujara was trapped in front by pacer Peter Siddle, who bowled a fairly tight spell in the morning.
Replays however showed that the Saurashtra batsman had got an inside edge back onto his pads.
Vijay, meanwhile got to his century with a lofted shot over midwicket off Lyon, his patient knock a stark contrast to the one played by his opening partner.
To get to his hundred, which also is his third against Australia, the 28-year-old Chennai batsman faced 206 balls and spent 276 minutes. He struck 12 boundaries and two sixes.
After sharing a 287-run partnership with Dhawan, which is India's third highest for the first wicket, Vijay added another 92 runs with Tendulkar, who looked in good nick before getting out.
Watchful to start with, Tendulkar soon opened up to play some delightful shots on either side of the wicket.
While his first boundary was a heave over midwicket, he was in his elements soon as he straight drove Mitchell Starc in his first over -- the ball was racing towards the ropes before the bowler could even complete his follow-through.
Tendulkar meanwhile became the highest individual scorer on this ground, surpassing former teammate Rahul Dravid, who held the previous record with 731 runs from nine matches.
But there was a period when Tendulkar went into a shell managing just two off 28 balls. He was then snapped by Steven Smith, who had him caught at forward short leg.
Sitting pretty at 384 for three at lunch, India were taken by surprise after the break, with Australia staging a remarkable fightback to reduce the hosts to 431 for seven.
Skipper Clarke's decision to take the second new ball seven overs after lunch paid dividends, as Starc had Vijay trapped with one that swung in with the batsmen not offering a stroke.
The left-arm pacer had India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni with a similar delivery, the swung back sharply and batsman was caught plumb in-front.
Bowling with a scrambled seam, Siddle induced an edge from Ravindra Jadeja to make it 427 for six.
The delivery moved away from the left-hander on landing and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin did the rest. Ashwin followed six runs later.
Virat Kohli stood tall amongst the ruins with a fighting half-century and he got good support from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The duo added 61 runs for eight wicket to take the India's score past 450. However Kumar couldn't last long as he edged one to Brad Haddin off Henriques for 18.
Kumar struck deadly blows up front for India removing the openers and Steven Smith for not too many.
The UP seamer had Warner caught behind in the first over, who had a wild swing, getting an edge to MS Dhoni for two runs.
Bhuvneshwar then had Cowan trapped in-front but this time he was a bit lucky as the ball had pitched outside leg and the batsman had made a big stride forward.
There was no doubt as far as his third wicket was concerned as Bhuvneshwar produced a beauty that held its line before knocking over Smith's off-stump.