Harbhajan blitz keeps India on top

The fans had turned up hoping to see crowd-pleasing batsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni but it was Harbhajan Singh who kept them cheering by making his eight Test half-century and pushing India towards 500.

A swift end to the Indian innings looked imminent after Vettori's double-strike early in the post-lunch session: MS Dhoni inside-edged to forward short leg for 10 and Zaheer Khan bowled for 1 by an arm ball to leave India at 412 for 8.

Harbhajan, though, began to attack soon after Zaheer's dismissal, clobbering Patel onto the roof beyond long-on and then slogging him to cow corner for four. His spin partner, Pragyan Ojha, supported him with a dour innings that barely had any forceful strokes. His dogged innings came to an end when he padded up to an arm ball from Patel.

By then, Ojha had done his job, which was to support Harbhajan. There was a brief lull after Harbhajan's initial assault, but the big shots came soon after. The tireless Vettori was thumped through extra cover, and in his next over Harbhajan skipped beyond leg stump and hammered Vettori over mid-off first for four and then for six.

Harbhajan was more circumspect against the quick bowlers, though there was a blast past mid-off off Jesse Ryder to move past his previous Test best of 66. He has spoken of his ambition to make a Test century, but it wasn't to be today as he bottom-edged a late cut to the keeper on 69.