Captain Michael Clarke led the fightback for Australia with a wonderfully-crafted century after Ravichandran Ashwin had put India in charge on the opening day of their Test series in Chennai.
Clarke (103no), who was given a major let-off when on 41, sealed his 100 in the final over of the day, but he was aided by a fine innings of 68 from debutant Moises Henriques, with the pair putting on 151 for the sixth wicket.
That came after Ashwin had single-handedly reduced the tourists to 153 for five and the off-spinner then ended Henriques’ stay to end the day with figures of six for 88, while Ravindra Jadeja also picked up a late scalp as Australia finished on 316 for seven.
India began the day by handing Harbhajan Singh his 100th Test appearance as well giving seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar his debut.
Australia, after winning the toss, got off to a rollicking start with David Warner and Ed Cowan scoring exactly 50 in the first 10 overs. They finished on a positive note with Clarke hammering over mid-off for his 11th four which brought up a well-deserved 100.
