MOHALI (India), Oct 17: Sachin Tendulkar eclipsed Brian Lara’s world record for most Test runs to help India reach 311 for five on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium on Friday.

Tendulkar passed his target with three runs after tea to beat the 11,953 West Indian Lara scored before he retired from international cricket in 2007.

Tendulkar went on to hit 88 after Australian left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson led a splendid fight-back on a good batting pitch.

India, who began well after winning the toss, wobbled after Johnson’s double strike before tea contributed to three wickets tumbling for 17 runs.

Tendulkar shared in a 142-run fifth wicket partnership with Saurav Ganguly to rescue the innings from 163 for four and go past 12,000 runs in Tests. He eventually fell when he edged debutant paceman Peter Siddle to Matthew Hayden at slip off the second new ball late in the day.

Ganguly was 54 not out at the close with Ishant Sharma on two.

Earlier, opening batsman Gautam Gambhir scored 67 and added 70 runs with Virender Sehwag (35) for the first wicket and 76 with Rahul Dravid (39) for the next.

Australian bowlers reined in the innings after India had got off to a good start after electing to bat.

Johnson, their most successful bowler with five wickets in the drawn first Test, led the way after India raced to 104-1 at lunch.

Pace spearhead Brett Lee triggered the slump when Rahul Dravid played on to the stumps for 39 before Johnson had opener Gautam Gambhir caught behind for a well-made 67 in the next over.

Left-hander Gambhir, who hit nine fours in his seventh Test fifty, added 76 runs with Dravid after sharing in a fluent 70-run stand with Sehwag (35).

Johnson then had Vangipurappu Laxman (12) nick down the leg-side to Haddin, the same ploy he used to remove opener Virender Sehwag (35). The bowler finished the day with three for 68.

Tendulkar, on 13 going into tea, steered the first ball after the break from debutant paceman Peter Siddle to third man for three runs to achieve the landmark.

The 35-year-old took off his helmet and raised his bat to acknowledge the cheering crowd before Ganguly and the entire Australian team came up to congratulate him.

Australia were unlucky not to remove Ganguly on 35 after umpire Rudi Koertzen turned down a stumping appeal off the bowling of leg-spinner Cameron White. Television replays showed Ganguly’s back foot was in the air when wicket-keeper Brad Haddin whipped off the bails. The left-hander completed 7,000 Test runs, the fourth Indian to do so, soon after.

The experienced pair eased the pressure until Tendulkar, who batted effortlessly with shots of vintage quality, fell. He hit 10 fours in his 111-ball knock spanning three hours.

India captain Anil Kumble had no cheer on his 38th birthday when he was ruled out because of a shoulder injury. Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the side and debutant leggie Amit Mishra came into the eleven.

Australia also made one change, with Siddle replacing Stuart Clark who was sidelined due to an elbow injury.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings):

G. Gambhir c Haddin b Johnson 67

V. Sehwag c Haddin b Johnson 35

R. Dravid b Lee 39

S. Tendulkar c Hayden b Siddle 88

V. Laxman c Haddin b Johnson 12

S. Ganguly not out 54

I. Sharma not out 2

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-5, NB-3) 14

TOTAL (for five wkts, 85 overs) 311

FALL OF WKTS: 1-70, 2-146, 3-146, 4-163, 5-305.

BOWLING (to-date): Lee 18-5-56-1 (5w, 2nb); Siddle 18-2-80-1 (1nb); Johnson 20-3-68-3; Watson 14-3-47-0; Clarke 7-0-28-0; White 8-0-26-0.

TO BAT: M. Dhoni, A. Mishra, H. Singh, Z. Khan.

AUSTRALIA: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wicket-keeper), Cameron White, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle.

UMPIRES: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Asad Rauf (Pakistan).

THIRD UMPIRE: Amish Saheba (India)

MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad (England).—Agencies

Test cricket’s leading scorers

Test cricket’s top batsmen (Name, country, Tests, runs, centuries):

Sachin Tendulkar (India) 152* 12,027 39

Brian Lara (West Indies) 131 11,953 34

Allan Border (Australia) 156 11,174 27

Steve Waugh (Australia) 168 10,927 32

Rahul Dravid (India) 127* 10,341 25

Ricky Ponting (Australia) 121* 10,239 36

Sunil Gavaskar (India) 125 10,122 34

Note: Tendulkar, Dravid and Ponting are the only ones in the list still playing Test cricket.