4 Mar 2013, 1140 hrs IST

Cricket News: India 400/3 in 123 overs; C Pujara out for 204. Pujara and V Kohli completes 1000 runs in Tests; Match Status: Lunch break day 3. AUS 1st Innings 237/9 dec in 85.0 Overs Run Rate: 2.78 IND 1st Innings 400/3 in 122.1 Overs Run Rate: 3.27 India lead by 163 runs India 400/3(122.1 overs) RR: 3.27)

1st Innings Batting Status R B 4s 6s S/R Murali Vijay c Ed Cowan b Glenn Maxwell 167 361 23 2 46.26 Virender Sehwag c Matthew Wade b Peter Siddle 6 19 1 0 31.58 Cheteshwar Pujara c Xavier Doherty b James Pattinson 204 341 30 1 59.82 Sachin Tendulkar * Batting 3 6 0 0 50.00 Virat Kohli Batting 4 6 1 0 66.67 MS Dhoni (C)(W) Ravindra Jadeja Ravichandran Ashwin Harbhajan Singh Bhuvneshwar Kumar Ishant Sharma (b: 1, lb: 13, wd: 2, nb: 0, penalty: 0) extras: 16 400 Fall Of Wickets (India) 17/1 (7.6 ov) Virender Sehwag Caught 387/2 (117.4 ov) Murali Vijay Caught 393/3 (120.4 ov) Cheteshwar Pujara Caught Bowling (Australia) Bowling 0 M R W NB WD E/R James Pattinson * 26.1 10 71 1 0 1 2.71 Peter Siddle 25 5 74 1 0 0 2.96 Moises Henriques 19 7 38 0 0 1 2.00 Xavier Doherty 35 11 104 0 0 0 2.97 Glenn Maxwell 16 1 85 1 0 0 5.31 David Warner 1 0 14 0 0 0 14.00 Australia 237/9 dec (85.0 overs) RR: 2.78 1st Innings Batting Status R B 4s 6s S/R David Warner b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6 8 1 0 75.00 Ed Cowan lbw b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4 13 1 0 30.77 Phillip Hughes c MS Dhoni b Ravichandran Ashwin 19 57 4 0 33.33 Shane Watson lbw b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 23 31 4 0 74.19 Michael Clarke (C) b Ravindra Jadeja 91 186 9 1 48.92 Matthew Wade (W) c Bhuvneshwar Kumar b Harbhajan Singh 62 144 8 0 43.06 Moises Henriques b Ravindra Jadeja 5 22 1 0 22.73 Glenn Maxwell c MS Dhoni b Ravindra Jadeja 13 22 2 0 59.09 Peter Siddle lbw b Harbhajan Singh 0 14 0 0 0.00 James Pattinson not out 1 6 0 0 16.67 Xavier Doherty not out 0 7 0 0 0.00 (b: 10, lb: 3, wd: 0, nb: 0, penalty: 0) extras: 13 237 Fall Of Wickets (Australia) 10/1 (2.2 ov) David Warner Bowled 15/2 (4.2 ov) Ed Cowan Leg before wicket 57/3 (14.6 ov) Shane Watson Leg before wicket 63/4 (21.2 ov) Phillip Hughes Caught 208/5 (68.3 ov) Matthew Wade Caught 217/6 (73.5 ov) Moises Henriques Bowled 233/7 (79.4 ov) Glenn Maxwell Caught 236/8 (82.4 ov) Peter Siddle Leg before wicket 236/9 (83.1 ov) Michael Clarke Bowled Bowling (India) Bowling 0 M R W NB WD E/R Bhuvneshwar Kumar 15 2 53 3 0 0 3.53 Ishant Sharma 17 5 45 0 0 0 2.65 Ravichandran Ashwin 15 6 41 1 0 0 2.73 Harbhajan Singh 22 2 52 2 0 0 2.36 Ravindra Jadeja 16 4 33 3 0 0 2.06 Playing XI India Murali Vijay, Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (C)(W), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma

Australia Ed Cowan, Shane Watson, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Michael Clarke (C), Matthew Wade (W), Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Xavier Doherty

After a dawdling, watchful start to the innings following Virender Sehwag's (6) early fall, the duo picked up the pace in the second session, and by the time the day's play came to an end, they were cruising along at a rate of over four runs an over.

The near-capacity Sunday crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, most of whom were provided no shade whatsoever from the scorching March sun, shared their team's swagger and never lost voice throughout the six hours of play.

Brief Scores: Australia 237 for 9 dec. (Michael Clarke 91, Matthew Wade 68; Ravindra Jadeja 3 for 33, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3 for 53) trail India 311 for 1 (Murali Vijay 129*, Cheteshwar Pujara 162*; Peter Siddle 1 for 51) by 74 runs.

The mercury touched 35C during the Hyderabad afternoon and large swathes of the Uppal stadium are roofless, but that didn't stop the 28,000-strong Sunday crowd from breaking into Mexican waves as M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara ran amok with an unbroken 294-run stand, which put India in command of the second Test.

The day also showcased the variety Test cricket allows, with India's scoring-rate jumping dramatically in every session. They were restricted to 49 runs in the morning, Pujara and Vijay then became more expansive to pick off 106 runs in the second session, before going berserk post-tea to pile on 151 runs against a wilting Australia.

The disgruntled murmurs over Australia's team selection for this match will only grow louder after Glenn Maxwell, who batted at No. 8, was introduced into the attack as late as the 47th over, and was easily dealt with - his 10 overs were caned for 55 runs. His inclusion had plenty of parallels with the ill-fated gamble on Cameron White - another Victoria batsman who could bowl a bit and was used as a spinner batting at No. 8 - during the unsuccessful 2008 India tour.

The other spinner, Xavier Doherty, posed a bit more of a threat, though he too fared as poorly as most Australian spinners have in India over the years. The visitors' well-documented worries over the strength of their spin department would have increased when he began with two friendly full tosses on leg stump, but he got a few deliveries to rip off the pitch and turn sharply past the outside edge.

Both Pujara and Vijay were sure-footed against the spinners, skipping down the track to crash the ball through covers or whip to the leg side. They didn't allow the spinners to settle either - when Doherty returned to bowl after lunch, his second delivery was powered over mid-off for six by Vijay.

Vijay had kept those sort of flamboyant shots to a minimum early in his innings. India's dominance on the day came on the back of a watchful morning session, in which both batsmen looked to play straight, shelving the cross-batted shots that had cost Australia dearly on the first day.

After twin failures in Chennai, Vijay needed a big innings to push his case for the remaining Tests. In the first few overs of the day, he chased a couple of short-and-wide deliveries, prompting the usual concerns over his temperament for Test cricket, before buckling down and playing more patiently. It was only after he was well set that his stylish flicks and natural aggression re-appeared.

With this century, Vijay could become India's first-choice opener because the selectors' patience with Virender Sehwag will be running low after he nicked Peter Siddle to fall for 6 - he now has only one 50-plus score in 13 innings.

Sehwag's early dismissal was offset by the increasingly reassuring presence of Pujara at No. 3. Though he injured his knee diving to complete a risky single early in his innings, hampering his running between the wickets, he showed his hunger for runs. He didn't shirk the quick singles, and despite hobbling frequently he again displayed the concentration and technique that has led to his Test-match skills being talked up in recent years.

The other standout feature of Pujara's career has been his penchant for big scores. While his frequent double-and triple-centuries in domestic cricket have been pooh-poohed a bit for being made on the flat tracks of Rajkot, even at the Test level, this was his third 150-plus score in the five times he has passed 50.

He repeatedly opened the face to guide the quicks to the third-man boundary, and stepped out to muscle the spinners through cover. He has been typecast as a Test player, but as the day progressed he showed off his repertoire of strokes, speeding from 100 to 150 in just 42 deliveries, getting to that milestone with an audacious hook for six off Siddle.

With the partnership growing, Australia looked short of wicket-taking options. James Pattinson and Siddle were unwavering in the morning but had little joy with the old ball, and Moises Henriques acquitted himself well as a back-up seamer though not as one who could pick up a clutch of wickets.

Michael Clarke let the game drift after tea, pinning all his hopes on the second new ball. India rattled off 102 in the first 17 overs of the final session and even when the quicks took the new ball, India's momentum didn't subside. There was a chance in the penultimate over of the day, when Doherty forced Pujara to nick, but the ball deflected off Matthew Wade's pad to evade Clarke at first slip. Clarke was left pounding the turf in frustration as Australia completed a day to forget.