India vs Australia, 3rd Test Day 4: Labuschagne, Smith, Green hit fifties; hosts set a target of 407 for India

Sydney, Jan 10: Half-centuries from Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Cameron Green propelled Australia to score 312/6 in their second innings before the hosts declared at tea on Sunday (January 10) day four of the third Test Match against India. The Aussies, thus, gave Indians a mammoth target of 407 runs to chase at the deteriorating Sydney Test.

The Aussie batsmen dominated the first two sessions on Sunday at the SCG as the Indian bowlers were made to toil hard to pick up the four wickets the hosts lost on day 4.

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Labuschagne (73), Smith (81) and Green (84) slammed fifties on the penultimate day of the Test match and got some reprieves from the Indian fielders. Smith, the centurion of the first innings, was poised to slam his second century of the match but he fell 19 short of it as India off-spinner R Ashwin finally managed to trap the swashbuckler in front.

Later, all-rounder Green notched up his maiden Test fifty and started dealing in boundaries and sixes to quickly reach 84. The tall cricketer faced 117 deliveries en route his maiden fifty and hit four huge sixes in his knock. The right-handed batsman was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah after he nicked the pacer and Wriddhiman Saha (substitute) caught him behind the stumps. After Smith's dismissal, captain Tim Paine also added runs quickly on the board and helped his team go past 300 in their second innings.

The play was halted for a brief period due to an incident of racial abuse from a section of the fans to India pacer Mohammed Siraj which resulted in the police sending some spectators out of the ground. Soon after resumption of the match, Green was dismissed and the umpires signalled an early tea break. Having already taken a sizeable lead of 406 runs, the Aussie camp declared the innings at tea.

Indians will face a daunting task of saving this game as they'll have to weather the potent Australian bowling attack in the four sessions. The tourists will also be two batsmen short in their second innings as Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja won't come out to bat after sustaining injuries while batting in the first innings.

Earlier in the day, Australia reached 182/4 at lunch. Smith was batting at 58* while Green was unbeaten at 20 at the end of the morning session. Starting the day's play, the Aussies started from 103/2 with Marnus Labuschagne (49*) and Smith batting on 29. Labuschagne - who was dropped at short-leg by Hanuma Vihari on the second ball of the day's play, off Bumrah - went on to notch up his second fifty of the match.