Nagpur - Damien Martyn scored his second century in successive innings against India to steer Australia to a commanding 362 for seven at stumps on Tuesday on the opening day of the third cricket Test.
Martyn, 33, continued from his match-saving 104 in the second innings of the drawn second Test at Madras last week with an elegant three-hour knock of 114 that contained one six and 15 boundaries from 165 deliveries.
Coasting to his ninth century from 47 Tests, Martyn shared an innings-rescuing fourth-wicket partnership of 148 with Darren Lehmann, who contributed 70 to frustrate the Indian attack. The pair joined after Australia had lost three wickets within 19 runs and was teetering at 86 for three.
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Martyn square-cut seamer Ajit Agarkar for his 15th boundary to complete the century, moving from 80 to 102 with five hits to the fence.
| 'Martyn shared an innings-rescuing fourth-wicket partnership with Lehmann' |
He lofted leg-spinner Anil Kumble for a six over long off, but fell trying to repeat the shot two balls later. He miscued and offered a simple catch to Agarkar in the covers.
Lehmann overcame a streak of low scores as he struck 10 boundaries during an 83-ball innings to post his first half-century of the series.
Lehmann, who injured his hamstring just before he was dismissed, survived two dropped catches before he sliced a catch to stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid at slip off left-arm spinner Murali Kartik.
Dravid, playing in his 81st Test and deputising for injured captain Sourav Ganguly, now shares the Indian record of most Test catches, equaling Sunil Gavaskar's mark of 108 from 125 matches. Dravid had earlier snapped opener Justin Langer off pace bowler Zaheer Khan.
The departure of Lehmann and Martyn saw India strike back through Kartik, who dismissed skipper Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne - both scoring just two runs - before Michael Clarke guided Australia to stumps without further loss and was 73 at the close.
| 'Lehmann overcame a streak of low scores' |
Clarke cut and drove to the fence 11 times from 129 balls and received good support from Jason Gullespie, who scored four runs in 41 minutes.
Kartik emerged as India's most successful bowler with career-best figures of 3-57.
Left-arm pacer Khan struck twice in the morning session to dismiss openers Langer (44) and Matthew Hayden (23) and curb Australia's fast start after Gilchrist won his third straight toss in the series.
Khan stopped the Aussie run-flow by removing the openers, and leg-spinner Kumble removed Simon Katich (4).
India had a double injury blow just before the match, when Ganguly withdrew because of injured thigh and offspinner Harbhajan Singh pulled out due to illness.
On the eve of the match, Ganguly had criticised the Nagpur curator for preparing a green-top track that gave away the home side's spin-bowling edge.
On the up side for India was the return of Tendulkar after two months on the sidelines with an injured elbow.
Australia won the first Test at Bangalore and held India to a draw in the second at Madras. The Australians haven't won a Test series in India since 1969. - Sapa-AP
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