Opener David Warner extended his purple patch with the bat, scoring his second century of the match, as the first Test against India headed for an exciting finish, with Australia gaining an overall lead of 363 runs in Adelaide on Friday.
At stumps on Day 4, at the Adelaide Oval, Australia were 290 for five, with Steven Smith and Brad Haddin batting on 52 and 14 respectively.
The hosts are likely to declare the innings early on Saturday, leaving India with the task of batting out the fifth day and saving the match.
In the morning session, spinner Nathan Lyon took his sixth five-wicket haul in Test cricket as India collapsed and were bowled out for 444 in their first innings, after resuming at 369 for five.
- PHOTOS, Day 4: Warner, Watson pile on the runs to swell lead
The 28-year-old Warner then followed up his first innings hundred with another ton, giving Australia command over the proceedings. He scored 102 off 166 balls, his knock studded with 11 fours and a six.
Warner, who had crossed the 1000-run landmark in the calendar year before lunch, consolidated Australia's position by adding 102 runs for the second wicket with Shane Watson (33), who was bowled by Mohammed Shami.
He also provided some spice to the day's proceedings when he got involved in an altercation with Varun Aaron after being called back by the umpire, who indicated a no-ball by the Indian pacer.
Tempers flared up as a result and Aaron, Warner, Shane Watson and Shikhar Dhawan got involved, and the umpires had to step in to resolve the situation.
Even as Warner put the incident behind to score his 11 Test hundred, skipper Michael Clarke, who had battled back pain to score a century in the first innings, did not last long in the team's second essay, though, as he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha off Aaron.
However, the wicket that India desperately wanted came when Warner was bowled while trying to reverse sweep leg-spinner Karn Sharma.
The big scalp did not peg Australia back as they continued to score quick runs, with Smith and Mitchell Marsh (40) dominating the Indian attack.
Marsh smashed four boundaries and three sixes during his entertaining innings that came off just 26 balls. Smith struck five fours in his unbeaten knock.
In scoring his century, Warner became only the fifth batsman after Clyde Walcott (1955), Sunil Gavaskar (1978), Aravinda de Silva (1997) and Ricky Ponting (2006) to score twin Test hundreds in the same calendar year on two occasions.
The Indian bowlers, however, produced a good display after the tea break. They bowled with control unseen in this match and made sure that Australia weren't in a position to declare this evening itself.
Much credit for that goes to Shami (1-42) and Aaron (1-43) for reversing the ball to good effect, after the two bowlers had been nearly kept away from the attack in the post-lunch session.
Shami, who didn't bowl at all in the second session of the day, struck immediately after tea to remove Watson.
Warner, batting on 70, then got a second life after he gloved the ball down to the 'keeper off Aaron in the 40th over, but the umpire failed to notice it. Seven overs later, he was dropped on 89 by Murali Vijay (0-27) in the slips off Shami.
There were a few heated moments and words exchanged between the two sets of players in the aftermath, but things settled down and finally Warner got to his ton in the 54th over, after facing 154 balls, hitting 11 fours as well as one six.
He was finally dismissed by Karn (2-95).
In between, Clarke (7) was dismissed cheaply off Aaron.
Smith and Marsh then came together and bludgeoned the Indian bowling. The latter was severe on the leg-spinner, smacking 24 runs off the 64th over, as Australia galloped past the 250-run mark and brought up the 300-lead as well.
The two batsmen put on 53 runs for the fifth wicket in 5.3 overs, setting up their side for an early declaration on the final day and push for a result.
Earlier, Warner and Chris Rogers resumed after lunch, looking to frustrate the Indians further. But that didn't work out as Karn got an early breakthrough, dismissing Rogers in only the third over after the re-start.
The Indian team's plan was to use medium pace from only one end and to this effect Ishant Sharma (0-41) toiled, but the combination of Karn-Ishant and Vijay couldn't bring about the desired effect and even Rohit was introduced later on in the session.
The 100-run mark then came up in the 27th over. Aaron bowled for the first time in the second innings in only the 32nd over. He bowled four eventful overs, and was nearly successful in his second one -- the 34th of the innings – when he bowled Warner with the batsman on 66 at that time. But the umpire ruled it a no-ball, giving a second chance to the opener, his first of three lives eventually.
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