Brisbane, Dec 19 (IANS): After two days of cricket, India had the upperhand in the second cricket Test -- and the advantage was stretched further on the third morning, but the Australian tail came to the rescue and gave the hosts a 97-run lead by the end of their innings Friday.

After having Australia six down for 247 runs, India let the lower-order off the hook -- Australia’s last four wickets fetched them 258 runs.

The Indian pacers kept pitching it short and the Aussies smacked boundaries with ease. At the end of the day, India were trailing by 26 runs after conceding 505 to the opponents.

Umesh Yadav, who dismissed the two openers on the second day said bowling short to the Australian tail was a plan that didn’t go their way.

“In the morning, the ball had become very soft, so we thought it was important to bowl line and length. We did that and got two wickets as well,” Umesh said.

“When the lower-order batsmen came, we decided to bowl bouncers because we saw it was causing them a bit of problem. Unfortunately, we leaked runs and gave 50 runs too many.”

The Australian tail attack was led by Mitchell Johnson, who plundered 88 runs off 93 balls with 13 fours and a six.

It all began after some of the Indian players welcomed him at the wicket with a few words. Umesh said it is a part of game that can go either way.

“These things happen in the game. Things get aggressive, sometimes it works in your favour and at other times the batsman gets fired up and scores runs. When a new batsman walks in, the fielding side tries to make him feel uncomfortable by saying a few things to him,” he said.

India are currently 71 for one in the second innings, having lost in-form opener Murali Vijay.

After surviving the final few anxious moments of the day, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara will walk into the middle on the morning of Day Four with the intention of giving India a lead good enough for a chance of a win.

Umesh urged the batsmen to bat for an entire day and then give the bowlers a go at victory.

“First of all, we need to bat the whole day tomorrow and get a good lead. Depending on the size of the lead we get, we will plan the last innings with the ball.”