Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin piled on the runs against England as Australia pulled themselves to a strong position yet again in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide on Friday.
Clarke (148, 245b, 17x4) hit his second consecutive century on day two, while Haddin (118, 177b, 11x4, 5x6), after a good time with the bat in the first Test, finally got to the three-figure mark in the second Test with Australia posting 570 for nine declared courtesy a 200-run stand between the two centurions.
England dug in for 21 overs in the final session, but not before losing skipper Alastair Cook to a brilliant delivery from Mitchell Johnson, who was again fired up and raring to go against England. The visitors finished the day on 35 for one with Michael Carberry (20) and Joe Root (9) batting at the crease.
"That was some serious pace, that first four overs and he had some good shape," Haddin said of Johnson's spell. "You could tell by his run-up that they were going to come out with some serious pace. He just looked smooth. He was just coming into the crease and he just looked like he was gliding in.
"I noticed up on the board he had the six fastest balls in the day after his first seven or so balls, so it's always good to have someone like Mitch bowling that sort of pace. I don't know what it looked like from side on, but it was some very, very good pace there.
"That ball that got Cook was a cracker. It swung late, and I think at 150km/h that was a very good delivery. It's good fun (keeping to him). It's always good to have someone bowling at 150ks in your team.
"My worst part of the week is the seven minutes I have to face in his net."
Haddin was happy to complete his fourth Test century, third against England, with the last one coming at the Gabba three years ago in the Ashes. "I'm pretty comfortable with where my game is at the moment," he said. "I'm enjoying being part of this team and enjoying my cricket.
"It was very important that we batted deep in this first innings, so to get 550 was important.
"We thought that was going to be the best time to bat, the ball was only 10 or so overs old and the roller had just been on it so we thought we were going to have a pretty good opportunity to get the game moving forward in that first session.
"That was probably the best the wicket has been to bat on through the whole Test match so far."
Where to Watch Live
The third day of the second Test is scheduled for a 5.30 am IST start with live coverage on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1. You can also catch the match via live streaming in India by clicking HERE. To catch the action in the U.K., click HERE. Viewers in the U.S. can live stream the match by clicking HERE. Viewers in Australia can click the Channel Nine link HERE.