Late Bumrah wickets after Jaiswal & Kohli centuries put India on top

Border-Gavaskar Trophy, first Test, day three, Perth

India: 150 (Hazlewood 4-29) & 487-6 dec (Jaiswal 161, Kohli 100*)

Australia: 104 (Bumrah 5-30) & 12-3 (Bumrah 2-1)

Australia require 522 runs to win with seven wickets remaining

Scorecard

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli hit imperious centuries before Jasprit Bumrah took two late wickets as India put themselves in a dominant position against Australia at stumps on day three of the first Test.

Opener Jaiswal's sublime 161 set the tone for India as he and KL Rahul compiled a record first-wicket stand of 201 for India in Australia.

That was followed by Kohli's zen-like unbeaten knock of exactly 100 at Perth's Optus Stadium as India declared their second innings on 487-6.

Set 534 for victory, a weary Australia were left with an awkward 24 minutes to negotiate before the close.

Rested and refreshed India stand-skipper Bumrah ran in with menace and trapped Nathan McSweeney lbw with the fourth ball of Australia's response.

Australia captain Pat Cummins then came out as nightwatchman and edged Mohammed Siraj to Kohli at second slip.

A fired-up Bumrah struck again in his third over as he had Marnus Labuschagne out lbw, ball-tracking technology backing up the on-field decision after the Aussie batter referred it.

With two days left to play there is, in theory at least, still time for Australia to either bat out for a draw or chase down a record total to win the match.

The current highest successful fourth-innings total to win a match is the 418-7 made by West Indies against Australia at St John's in May 2003.

Australia's highest fourth-innings chase to win a Test was the 404-3 they made at Headingley against England in July 1948.

However, with movement and uneven bounce on the pitch India are strongly positioned to win the opening match of the five-Test series.

Jaiswal and Kohli ooze class

Jaiswal announced himself on the international stage with a sparkling 171 on his Test debut against West Indies in July 2023.

However, his second Test hundred outside India - and fourth overall - will be one the 22-year-old will doubtless come to savour.

That it came against a gnarled Australia bowling attack, with over 1,400 Test wickets between them, was particularly satisfying.

Jaiswal resumed the day on 90 and brought up his fourth Test century, off 205 balls, in a particularly eye-catching manner - ramping a short ball from Josh Hazlewood for six.

He celebrated then spread out his arms, closed his eyes and turned his head to the heavens. There were records, too.

Jaiswal and fellow opener Rahul's opening stand eclipsed the 191 made by Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1986, and is now the best of any opening Indian pair in Australia.

Fresh faced and lithe, Jaiswal had sledged Mitchell Starc on day two about his pace and showed plenty of resilience whenever he was peppered by short-pitched bowling and any verbals in between.

When he was eventually out, slicing Mitch Marsh to point, Jaiswal lingered at the crease almost in disbelief. His hunger for runs - despite 161 of them across 297 balls and featuring 15 fours and three sixes - was seemingly not sated.

His departure sparked a brief fightback from Australia as they took three wickets for eight runs, before grand master Kohli seized control of the contest with a stellar knock of his own.

It was vintage Kohli - watchful at first before he unfurled the full range of stylish drives and classy pulls.

When Kohli whacked Nathan Lyon straight down the ground for six, as he and Nitesh Reddy upped the ante, the expectancy grew.

Never a man to miss his lines on the big stage, Kohli duly delivered his seventh Test century on Australian soil with a flick down to fine leg and India declared.

That this knock ended a lean run of scores - he averaged 14 in his last seven Test innings - is an ominous portent for those wearing baggy greens for the remainder of this series.

A wagon wheel of Virat Kohli's 100* off 143 balls, featuring eight fours and two sixes

Australia's frailties exposed again

After the chaos of the first day, when 17 wickets fell, a more familiar pattern of Test match cricket has largely followed.

That was, however, until the final half hour when a frantic Australia, their minds scrambled after a day in the dirt, lost their heads in a frenzied 4.2 overs.

Their top-order vulnerabilities were highlighted in the first innings and were eminent again here.

Cummins' decision to promote himself to bat at number three as a nightwatchman, having captained and bowled, looks especially foolhardy after he edged Siraj.

India could justifiably have batted Australia into submission, but under coach Gautam Gambhir there has been a willingness to be bolder.

Given the situation, it might have helped having Bumrah, a bowler, standing in as captain with regular skipper Rohit Sharma having just arrived in Australia after the birth of his second child.

In one of those electrifying passages of play at the the end of the day, Bumrah smelled blood and went for the kill.

McSweeney was worked over by the India quick bowler in the first innings and he only lasted four balls this time - pinned lbw by a ball which stayed low.

After Cummins' dismissal, the final act of the day saw Labuschagne get himself in a tangle to a delivery which nipped back from Bumrah, and he too was given out lbw.

All the while at the other end, Usman Khawaja watched the chaos unfold. A lot will depend on him and the experienced Steve Smith to salvage something.

With a pitch offering plenty, it's going to be a stern test of their technique as well as their mental fortitude.

'This is special' - what they said

India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal: "For me all my centuries are amazing, but this is special because I really wanted to do it against Australia.

"I worked so hard in every practice session, I wanted to score runs here in Australia, so I really enjoyed it.

"I was just playing normally, I always trust in me and believe in me."

Australia bowler Josh Hazlewood: "I think it's just about the batters sticking to their plans tomorrow, batting some time.

"It's obviously a long series so if we can put some overs into their top quicks, that's one of the goals.

"And if some guys find some form and score 80, 90 or 100, that's probably the positives we can take out of it."