The sun took a break, but India shone to stay ahead of Australia in the opening Test after sporadic rain intrusions, K.L. Rahul's enterprise and Cheteshwar Pujara's obduracy culminated in a 166-run lead at the end of the third day at Adelaide on Saturday.
Virat Kohli was dismissed late in the final session as India reached 151 for three at stumps on day three at the Adelaide Oval.
The Indian skipper lunged forward to defend off Nathan Lyon (1-48) but was caught at short leg for an uncharacteristic knock of 34 (104 balls). At close of play, Pujara was unbeaten on 40 runs, while Ajinkya Rahane was batting on 1 not out. India led by 166 runs.
Post tea, Kohli and Pujara took their third-wicket partnership to 71 runs, albeit it was low on strike-rate, coming off 197 balls.
Pujara survived early in the last session, courtesy DRS again, as the ball seemed to miss the stumps on account of bounce in the 40th over by Lyon.
At the other end, Kohli became the fourth Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid to score 1,000-plus runs in Test cricket against Australia.
The hosts though cut off most of his scoring opportunities, and Kohli was happy to play for time as he didn't dominate the bowling for once. The Kohli-Pujara third-wicket partnership crossed 50 off 149 balls.
India's lead swelled past 150 shortly thereafter, and just when it appeared to be smooth sailing for the visitors, Lyon struck to remove Kohli before stumps and put the match in balance again.
Earlier, K.L. Rahul scored a quick-fire 44 off 67 balls as India reached 86 for two at tea. Rain had further caused delays post lunch and another 23 minutes were lost before play could finally get under way, with 61 overs remaining in the day.
