The Australians showed their true form on the third day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with Mark Waugh posting his highest Test score and Shane Warne striking twice. This match, much like the first in Chennai, is now evenly poised after three days of good cricket.The day began well with Darren Lehmann racing to a half-century in his first Test in assured fashion. Two boundaries off Venkatapathy Raju's opening over of the morning were glorious cover drives, with Lehmann using his feet like a ballet dancer. In Raju's following over, he was quickly on the backfoot and smashed a cut to the point boundary. In fact, the burly left-hander was looking so comfortable that a century on debut was well within his capabilities when he made his first mistake and was caught at silly mid-off.It has been an impressive start by the aggressive South Australian and so well had he played the spinners that he's put in jeopardy the position of teammate Greg Blewett.Meanwhile, at the other end, Mark Waugh played serenelybelying the fact that he'd had a bad night with a stomach upset. He quietly went about his job playing elegant cuts and flicks off his pads, not running too hard in order to conserve his fast fading energy. So well did he marshall his strength that he became the first Australian to score a century in the series, confirming his ranking as the best player of spin in the side.Amazingly, despite his deteriorating condition, he posted his highest Test score in passing 150 for the first time in 14 centuries. This is almost as puzzling as Sachin Tendulkar having failed to score a Test double-century so far.When Michael Karprowicz joined Waugh, the match slowed perceptibly as Mohammed Azharuddin went into his customary afternoon siesta. In each Test the skipper has nodded off at the controls and the Australian innings has been prolonged as he appears to wait for the tail-enders to commit hara-kiri. The end came eventually and the fact that India finished with an advantage of 24 on the first innings was due tothe tireless work of Anil Kumble.His six wickets gave him 22 for the series, with two five-wicket hauls. Even without Javagal Srinath to act as the battering ram, Kumble was able to steadily work his way through the Australian batting order with only Waugh scoring freely off the quick leggie. He gave Ricky Ponting a torrid time, as he had the young Australian leaping nervously about the crease before he edged one straight to slip. Ponting is a strong backfoot player against the quicks but he doesn't seem to judge the length so well when the spinners are operating and consequently he doesn't fully utilise what could be an asset in India.India's meagre lead was soon boosted as Sidhu went on the rampage. First it was Shane Warne he took to, belting a six and a couple of fours off his first over with the now legendary lofted shots. Then, it was Adam Dale who suffered as Sidhu's confidence was at its peak and every delivery looked like a potential boundary. He hit three in one over and VVS Laxman joined theparty as yet another 50 opening stand was posted in quick time. Even the loss of Laxman, the victim of a well flighted Warne delivery, couldn't stop the flow of runs as India appeared determined to set Australia a challenging target.Then a change came over the game. Sidhu perished as he played exuding aggression. The bearded batsman attempted a lusty sweep which finished in bat pad's hands via the glove and then when Gavin Robertson ambushed Rahul Dravid, the match was suddenly wide open.The Australians will be encouraged as Warne and Robertson bowled well in tandem and they'll have the opportunity to attack Azharuddin and Tendulkar on even terms on the fourth morning. After the shellacking they received in Calcutta, it's easy to forget that the Australians were competitive for nearly four days in Chennai. Mark Taylor says the Australians have learnt a lot on this tour, so he'll be hoping they put it into practice on the fourth morning and this time turn the tables on the Indian maestro.
