India is the only country in which Ricky Ponting has not won a Test as captain and despite the best efforts of Ponting the batsman, he needs something special from his bowlers to end that record on Wednesday. After a hard-fought four days, India hold the upper hand going into the final morning thanks to a fine all-round bowling effort led by Pragyan Ojha.
The hosts need only a draw in order to win the series, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy already in their keeping, but this Test should finish in a victory. And for all the fight shown by Ponting in an innings of 72 - his third score in the seventies this series - it remained to be seen whether Australia's lead of 185 at stumps was enough.
A day that began with Sachin Tendulkar scoring his sixth Test double-century ended with some fraught moments for Australia's batsmen against spin and reverse-swing. Seven men succumbed before Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz survived until stumps, and the Australians will aim for at least 50 more runs on the final morning.Australia's innings had begun positively enough as Shane Watson and Simon Katich erased India's 17-run advantage and quickly set about building a lead of their own. But the match turned India's way when Ojha trapped Watson lbw for 31 with a ball that drifted on with the arm, and Harbhajan had Katich (24) caught behind with no addition to the total.
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