Shikhar Dhawan India
Shikhar Dhawan retired hurt on Day 4Reuters

India need to bat out of their skins on day four to not just give themselves a chance of winning the 2nd Test in Brisbane, but also to save it, after their bowlers rather lost the plot on the third day at the Gabba.

The India bowlers forgot what is required to dismiss tail-enders in a Test match yet again as Australia, led by Mitchell Johnson, pummelled them, and then some, to help take a considerable first innings lead.

While Johnson will rightly take most of the plaudits for his aggressive 88, it was Steven Smith who was the lynchpin of that Australia batting lineup one more time, scoring a second century in the series, and in serene style too.

"I said in the press conference before the Test that I wanted to lead from the front with my performances," Smith said. "Hopefully I've done that so far this game and hopefully it continues for me as well."

Smith certainly led from the front with his immaculate 133, but it was Johnson's brutal assault that turned the first innings around for Australia and allowed them to go past 500 and take a near 100-run lead.

The home team were in a bit of trouble after losing two wickets on Day 3 morning, only for Johnson to come in and belt the ball everywhere to demoralise the Indian bowlers.

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"He came out and was positive from ball one," added Smith. "That was his mindset. They tried to be quite aggressive with him, bowling short, and trying to get stuck into him.

"I think that played into his favour. He took them on and they didn't really have an answer for him, to be honest. It was great the way he came out and just took them on from ball one.

"We said this morning that we wanted a few big partnerships and we managed to do that. That's all you need to do on this kind of wicket.

"If you get yourself in it's one of the best places to bat in the world. Credit to our tail the way they played and came out and took the bowlers on was fantastic. I'm really happy with all the boys' performance."

The tail wagged one more time as Australia went from 247 for six to 505 all out with Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood also chipping in with runs.

"In the morning the ball had become very soft, so we thought it was important to bowl line and length," fast bowler Umesh Yadav said. "We did that and got two wickets as well. When the lower order batsmen came in, we decided to bowl bouncers because we saw it was causing them a bit of problem.

"Unfortunately we leaked runs and gave 50 runs too many."

The India batsmen will hope the Aussie bowlers will do them such favours on Saturday as they size up another big score to help set up a daunting target for the home team in the fourth innings.

Where to Watch Live

Get the Day 4 Report and Score HERE

Australia vs India 2nd Test Day 3 in Brisbane is scheduled for a 10 am local time (11 am AEDT, 5.30 am IST, 12 am GMT, 7 pm ET) with live coverage in India on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports HD1. Viewers in India can also watch the second Test match via live streaming online on Starsports.com.

Catch the Test match live on Channel 9 in Australia, while viewers can also live stream the match on Cricket Australia Live or the Cricket Australia Live App. Viewers in the Middle East can watch Day 4 live on OSN or via live streaming online on OSN Play.

Audience in the UK catch Day 4 of the Test live on Sky Sports 2, while the live streaming option is on Sky Go or Watch Sky Sports. Day 4 of the 2nd Test can be watched by viewers in the USA on Willow TV or via a live stream on Willow TV Online.