Captain Michael Clarke struck his maiden unbeaten double century while Ricky Ponting marked his return to form with a sparkling 134 as Australia stretched their lead to a mammoth 291 to bat a hapless India out of the game in the second cricket Test here on Wednesday.
Clarke, who batted the whole day for an unbeaten 251, and Ponting, who hit his first century in two years, toyed with the ineffective Indian bowling attack as Australia piled up 482 for four in reply to India's first innings 191 all out.
Mike Hussey (55) was giving company to Clarke at stumps on the second day which turned out to be a lacklustre day for the visitors, managing to take just one wicket.
It will now be a herculean task for the Indian batting line-up, which has come a cropper in three successive innings in the series, to escape from defeat with three days still left on a SCG pitch which does not have much for the bowlers.
India searched for a wickets all day, from the old ball to the new ball but they could not stop the home batsmen from plundering runs at will. They could grab just one wicket -- that of Ponting -- at the expense of 366 runs, the break-up being 120, 123 and 133 runs from three sessions of play.
Remarkable as Clarke's power of concentration, range of strokes and stamina were, no less notable was the record 288 runs he forged with his former captain Ponting for the fourth wicket, improving upon their own 210 at Adelaide in 2008 -- the previous fourth wicket best between the two nations.
While Ponting ended his century drought of two years, 17 Tests and 33 innings -- this being his 40th hundred in his 160th Test, Clarke notched up his 18th in his 78th Test. This was Ckarke's second century of the Australian summer this year.
Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the second cricket Test between India and Australia here on Wednesday.
India 1st Innings: 191 all out
Australia 1st Innings: (Overnight 116 for 3) David Warner c Tendulkar b Zaheer 8 Ed Cowan lbw b Zaheer 16 Shaun Marsh c Laxman b Zaheer 0 Ricky Ponting c Tendulkar b Ishant 134 Michael Clarke batting 251 Michael Hussey batting 55
Extras: (LB-12, W-3, NB-3) 18; Total: (for 4 wkts in 116 overs) 482
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-37, 4-325
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 26-4-106-3, Umesh Yadav 18-2-94-0, Ishant Sharma 22-0-106-1, Ravichandran Ashwin 28-4-103-0, Virender Sehwag 14-1-38-0, Virat Kohli 8-0-23-0.
