HYDERABAD : Australian captain Michael Clarke mounted yet another rescue mission on the opening day of the second Test against India but his resistance could not prevent the hosts seizing control.
After another top-order collapse, Clarke combined with Matthew Wade to repair Australia's innings before a flurry of late wickets prompted the tourists to declare at 237-9 in the hope of making some inroads into India's batting.
Instead, India's openers, Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay, survived until stumps and will resume today on 5-0 with the object of building a first-innings lead.
In the first Test in Chennai, Australia were undone by India's spinners, particularly Ravichandran Ashwin. Yesterday, though, medium-pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar did the early damage.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat but their openers did not last long _ David Warner was bowled by Kumar in the third over and Ed Cowan was trapped lbw in the fifth.
Shane Watson attempted to counter-attack but was the third batsmen back in the pavilion, Kumar claiming his third wicket in the opening session when he trapped Watson lbw for 23. When Phil Hughes departed shortly after, caught behind off Ashwin for 19, Australia were 63-4 and staring into the abyss.
Once again, it fell to Clarke to lead the recovery and his 145-run partnership with Wade went some way to restoring Australia's hopes.
Clarke has been in imperious form over the past 15 months and has scored six centuries in his past 14 Tests, including a ton in the first match of this series.
The problem, though, has been a lack of support and Australia's batsmen again failed to follow their captain's example.
When Wade departed midway through the final session, caught after playing a rash cut shot to Harbhajan Singh to be out for 62, Australia were 208-5 and another collapse followed.
One of the bright spots for Australia in the first Test was the debut of all-rounder Moises Henriques, who made two half-centuries in testing conditions.
There was to be no repeat, though, and Henriques was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja for five.
Glenn Maxwell, another all-rounder making his Test debut, fared little better, making just 13 before Jadeja had him caught behind, leaving Australia 233-7, the earlier graft of Clarke and Wade going to waste.
With the tail now exposed, India moved in for the kill. Singh removed Peter Siddle for a duck and Clarke was eventually out for 91, bowled by Jadeja, and Australia declared shortly after.