Perth, Dec 17 (IANS): Australia were bowled out for 243, setting India a target of 287 on the fourth day of the second Test here on Monday.

Australia were going strong till lunch but wickets started tumbling at regular intervals and thus only managed to take the 286 run lead.

Usman Khawaja (72) was the highest scorer for the hosts. Skipper Tim Paine (37) also contributed handsomely.

Towards the end, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood forged 36 runs partnership in 38 balls for the last wicket to help their team to post a challenging score.

For India, Mohammad Shami was the most sucessful bowlers scalping six wickets while Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets.

Earlier, Australia were at 190/4 in their second innings, taking a healthy lead of 233 runs at lunch.

Resuming the day at 132/4, Paine and Khawaja started the proceeding on a positive note. The duo played cautiously in the first hour and then started playing their shots.

Indian bowlers struggled in the first session as a result both the overnight batsmen continued batting till the lunch.