Aussies on the ropes in First Test

Check out these the extended highlights from day four of the first Test between India and Australia in Chennai.

MS Dhoni becomes the first India wicketkeeper to score a double century, and made it look easy.

He may have been overshadowed by his captain, but Virat Kholi's day three century was pretty special.

Australia finally dismissed MS Dhoni for 224 early on day four and the Indians are all out for 572.

A FIGHTING half-century from debutant Moises Henriques has saved Australia from an embarrassing innings defeat and given the tourists a stay of execution in the first Test against India.

The tourists appeared headed for a heavy defeat when a top-order collapse on day four had Australia floundering at 8-161, still 31 runs shy of making India bat again with two wickets in hand.

But the impressive Henriques (75 not out) and No.11 Nathan Lyon (8 not out) stood tall under fire, with the rookie allrounder providing fierce resistance to move within 25 runs of a maiden Test ton.

At stumps on day four, Australia were 9-232, now a lead of 40 runs, ensuring India must at least take to the crease again on the final day to draw first blood in the four-Test series.

Full first Test scoreboard at the FoxSports match centre

Test youngblood Henriques was superb under fire, crunching six fours and two sixes to pilot Australia to a surplus, which could balloon beyond 100 if he blazes away and Lyon hangs tough.

While the tourists are still at long odds to avert defeat, the plucky Henriques is refusing to concede, mindful that many a Test nation has capitulated under the tricky pressure of chasing a low total.

"We haven't lost this Test yet," he said.

"There's certainly a lot of hope and from my point of view you just don't know what can happen. The odds are stacked against us at the moment but we go into (today) being the underdog and whether it's rain, whatever it is, you just never know.

"At first we were just hoping to make them bat again and get ourselves a lead ... then once we got the lead, keep building away."

The match appeared headed for an early finish when Mitchell Starc's dismissal left Australia 9-175, still 17 runs shy of making India bat again.

But Henriques and Lyon (8) bravely dug in, with the allrounder on course today to celebrate a maiden Test ton.

"Whatever we get will have to be enough," Henriques said.

"If Nathan can keep batting like he did tonight, and hopefully I can squeeze a few more out ... (maybe Australia can lead by) 100, 150, 200.

"We don't want to be setting targets. We'll just be batting as well as we can."

Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin (5-90) claimed another five-wicket haul to go with 7-103 in the first innings as Australia's top-order were suffocated by the home side's walls of spin.

After MS Dhoni thumped 224 to lift India to a mammoth 572, Shane Watson (17), Ed Cowan (32), Phil Hughes (0), David Warner (23) and Matt Wade (8) all departed in quick succession to have Australia reeling at 5-121.

Once again, Michael Clarke (31) was charged with saving his country, but not even the skipper's Bradman-like form can mask the issues confronting the selection panel on which he sits.

The Australians head to Hyderabad on Wednesday for the second Test and unless something changes drastically, the Border-Gavaskar trophy will be swapping hands well before the fourth Test finale.

The composition of the bowling attack was thought to be Australia's primary headache. But after the top-order's worrying capitulation yesterday, the selectors' heads are pounding on dual fronts.

There are some options. Mitchell Johnson may come into the equation after Mitchell Starc went wicketless in this Test. Glenn Maxwell and Xavier Doherty are spin considerations, while Usman Khawaja could answer an SOS to stiffen the batting order.

Either way, the national panel has some big decisions to make.

If there is a singular example of the problems engulfing the tourists, it is Watson.

The time is now for Watson to prove his bona fides as a specialist batsman after his latest failure yesterday extended his Test century drought to 35 innings.

On the eve of the first Test against India, Watson drew a line in the sand. He had heard the whispers. That some, possibly even men of influence in the corridors of Cricket Australia, did not rate him among the country's top-six batsmen.

But on the evidence tabled at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Watson has only poured fuel on the inferno of debate.

The vice-skipper had his golden chance yesterday on day four. With Australia trailing by 192 runs on the first-innings after MS Dhoni (224) went berserk, Watson was pitchforked into his familiar opening role when David Warner was laid low by a stomach bug.

But after falling for 17, on the back of his first-innings 28, Watson was left to rue the reality he has not scored a Test ton since his last tour of India in October 2010.

Watson's second-innings dismissal precipitated another top-order collapse. With Warner watching on, Watson and Ed Cowan guided Australia comfortably to 0-34, only for the allrounder to lunge at a Ravi Ashwin delivery that lobbed to Virender Sehwag first slip.

Before you could blink, the tourists were on the ropes. Cowan was trapped lbw by Ashwin, then Hughes edged Ravindra Jadeja to Sehwag for a third-ball duck, leaving Australia in tatters at 3-65.

As he trudged back to the pavilion yesterday, Watson's average had slipped to 36.60 from 39 Tests.

Since the tour of Sri Lanka in August 2011, Watson has made 573 runs at 26.04. Of his past 22 innings, 15 have featured scores of 30 or less.

Where Watson, and Australia, go from here is anyone's guess.

PHOTO DISPUTE

We are unable to publish photographs from the Test series in India due to a dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and international news organisations.The BCCI has refused access to Test venues to established picture agencies including our supplier Getty Images. News Limited considers the BCCI action to be a strike against freedom of the press. News Limited, along with international photo and news agencies, is not providing live imagery from the tour in protest.

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