Australia slightly ahead after 428

India 110 for 2 (Sehwag 59) trail Australia 428 (Watson 126, Paine 92, Ponting 71, Zaheer 5-94) by 318 runs

Virender Sehwag delivered a brutal response to stun Australia with a quick half-century as India finished the second day of a two-paced Test on a high. Sehwag raced to a 38-ball fifty but was undone by Mitchell Johnson shortly before the close for 59, walking off frustrated by his error.

India finished at 110 for 2 at stumps in reply to the visitors' 428, with Rahul Dravid unbeaten on 21 and the nightwatchman Ishant Sharma on 0. Both the local openers showed the positive intent that was often missing in the field when they put on 81 in 13.2 overs to build on Zaheer Khan's 10th five-wicket haul. Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir (25) and Dravid quickly changed the value of Australia's total during a breathless finish to a day that had previously followed a sombre tempo.

After Australia had sweated to score at 2.82 an over, the Indians were soon careering along at a run a ball to upset a visiting attack that battled to regain control. Sehwag started biffing through the offside, hitting two boundaries from a Doug Bollinger over, and then crashing three off Ben Hilfenhaus. Nathan Hauritz's first ball went over mid-off, his next sped along the ground in the same region for the same result, and the over cost 11.