Adelaide, Dec 13 (IANS): India reached 105 for two in pursuit of the 364-run target set by Australia, who declared their second innings at the overnight score of 290 for five, till lunch on the fifth and final day of the first of the four-match Test series at the Adelaide Oval here Saturday.
India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan (9) and Cheteshwar Pujara (21) as other opener Murali Vijay (batting 47) and captain Virat Kohli (batting 25) were at the crease till lunch.
In the next two sessions of play, the visitors require 259 runs from 64 overs to win the match.
The Michael Clarke-led Australia decided to decided to make full use of the early morning conditions by having a crack at the young Indian batting line-up.
Left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson removed Dhawan with a well-directed bouncer in the second delivery of the fifth over of the day with the Indian scoreboard reading 16. The high-rising bouncer kissed the bicep of Dhawan's right arm and sailed into the hands of wicketkeeper Brad Haddin but the umpire ruled him out thinking it came off Dhawan's gloves.
Next man in, Pujara looked confident and positive from the start and supported Vijay well. The 26-year-old Pujara, who had scored 73 in the first innings, utilised his feet well against spinner Nathan Lyon, who got good purchase from the fifth day pitch but committed mistakes with his length.
After a few overs, Lyon, who bagged his sixth five-wicket haul in India's first innings of 444, bowled with a better length. He got further support from the rough patches created by the pacers' footwork and created a lot of confusion in the minds of the batsmen.
One of his deliveries missed the rough marks slightly, forcing Pujara to overestimate the turn and he went back in his crease only nick it to Haddin.
Vijay made a sedate start, on the other hand. Relying on his steely determination and solid defence, he judged the probing deliveries bowled by Johnson and Ryan Harris perfectly.
He scored his first boundary in the 15th over bowled by Harris.
In the next over, he deposited Lyon over the mid-on boundary for a massive six to get things going with good support coming in from the other end in the form of first innings centurion Kohli.