Warner bats on but Yadav hits back for India

PERTH - Australian opener David Warner hit an unbeaten 156 but Indian paceman Yadav took three wickets in the hour before lunch to reduce the hosts to 256 for three after the second morning of the third test.

It could have been even better for the tourists had Virat Kohli not dropped a straightforward catch off the bowling of Zaheer Khan when Warner, who hit the quickest century by an opening batsman in 69 balls on Friday, was on 126.

As it was, Australia held a first-innings lead of 95 with Warner, whose batting lacked the fireworks of Friday’s astonishing knock, accompanied at the crease by captain Michael Clarke (three not out).

India, already 2-0 down in the four-match series, had laboured on another hot and humid morning at the WACA until Yadav finally separated the two Australian openers when he bowled Ed Cowan for 74 with 214 runs on the board.

Shaun Marsh came for a brief cameo but he managed just 11 runs on his home ground before he nicked the ball to a diving VVS Laxman at second slip with Yadav again claiming the wicket.

The Western Australian at least improved on the scores of 0, 3 and 0 that he recorded in the first two tests but he will probably rue a missed chance to take the pressure off with a big innings.

Ricky Ponting, coming off his first test century in two years in the Sydney test, had made seven runs off six balls when a rash stroke saw Yadav remove his middle stump.

Warner showed only flashes of the swashbuckling brilliance he displayed on Friday, most notably a massive six through long-on which landed in the fourth row of the stand.

The third of his four sixes had brought up his record century but it was with a more prosaic run three that he reached his first test 150, achieved in 223 minutes off 128 balls with 21 boundaries.

Cowan had proved the perfect foil for Warner and he reached a milestone of his own in the morning, bringing up the second test fifty in his short career before getting an inside edge onto the stumps.