The turning points of the Mohali Test

The first day's play was washed out, yet India had enough time to register a six-wicket victory over Australia in the third Test in Mohali to take a 3-0 lead in the series.

Australia will be left ruing the fact that despite scoring in excess of 400, and so much time being lost to rain, they finished on the losing side.

A batting collapse in the second innings hurt them big time as India raced to victory just a couple of overs before close of play.

In a thrilling finish, India clinched victory with just 15 deliveries to spare.

Rediff.com takes a look at the turning points of the match:

Australia got off to a perfect start as their openers, Ed Cowan and David Warner, put on 139 runs for the opening wicket before Ravindra Jadeja did the trick with the ball.

Jadeja got the crucial double breakthrough in his 10th over when Warner (71) was caught off an inside edge by wicketkeeper M S Dhoni after the ball popped up on the leg side.

Australia were then dealt another hurting blow off the very next delivery when Michael Clarke, their batting mainstay, was dismissed for a golden duck, stumped as he jumped down the track to the first delivery he faced.

Debutant Shikhar Dhawan took an instant liking to Test cricket. The left-hander announced his arrival with a blazing century that had the Australians running for cover in Mohali.

He was dominant with the bat right from the start, regularly finding the gap on both sides of the wicket to change the course of the match.

He raced to 53 from 50 balls, with the help of 12 fours, and took another 35 deliveries to bring up his century on debut while taking his boundary tall to 21.

He eventually finished with 187 from a mere 174 balls, having smashed 33 fours and two sixes that enabled India to scent victory.

The Delhi left-hander surpassed the record of earlier fastest hundred on debut, which was in the name of West Indian Dwayne Smith, who got his ton with 93 balls in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2004.

Following failure in the first Test in Chennai, Murali Vijay was under pressure to retain his place in the side.

But he staged a grand comeback in the next Test in Hyderabad, smashing 167. At Mohali, that good form continued.

He started cautiously and was content to watch Dhawan destroy the bowling while he got himself in. Vijay timed his innings quite well and was very severe on the spinners, often using his feet to loft them through the leg side.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's three-wicket burst in India's second innings led India's charged to victory.

He got to bowl just nine in the first innings and made sure he seized the opportunity with both hands once he got one.

He had Warner caught behind in the first over, then had Cowan trapped in-front, though this one was a bit lucky as the ball had pitched outside leg and the batsman had made a big stride forward.

There was no doubt about his third wicket. It was a beauty that held its line before knocking over Smith's off-stump.

That spell saw Australia finish the day reeling at 75 for 3 and they could never really recover from that.

Australia needed to bat out two sessions to salvage a draw, but, yet again, their batting failed against the Indian spinners.

They looked like making a match out of it as they put up 119 for four at one stage, but four quick wickets in the space of nine over quashed all their hopes.

Michael Clarke came out to bat despite struggling with a sore back. He could hardly move or walk but showed great commitment to come out to bat at No. 6 and try and save Australia.

But he was done in yet again by Jadeja, who had him caught at short leg for 18, to claim his scalp for the fifth time in the series in six innings.

Two overs later, Australia's top scorer in the second innings Phil Hughes was dismissed leg before wicket by Ashwin for 69.

Moises Henriques fell to a brilliant diving catch by Jadeja off his own bowling, for two, and a few overs later Peter Siddle was bowled by Pragyan Ojha for 13.

That cluster of wickets proved vital in the final analysis as India squeezed home in a tight finish to clinch victory with 15 deliveries to spare.