Chennai, Dec 28: Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar brought some respite in the Indian camp, with the former also completing his maiden Test ton.
The duo added 127 runs for the eighth wicket, giving India a breather after they were reduced to 221/7 in the opening session of Day 3.
Reddy did the bulk of scoring while Sundar played a perfect second fiddle before getting out for 50.
Following his dismissal, it felt that Reddy would be stranded on 99 as Pat Cummins removed Jasprit Bumrah in the next over, leaving Mohammed Siraj with three balls to survive.
The tail-ender watched off the deliveries, following which Reddy reached the three-figure mark with a commanding drive against Scott Boland. His efforts helped India finish at 358/9, trailing by 116 runs at Stumps.
Both Reddy and Sundar arrived in the middle when India were in a dangerous position of conceding a lead of over 250 runs.
But their knocks has brought some balance in the contest. Earlier, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja resumed proceedings on Day 3 from the overnight score of 164/5.
Pant fell to a rash shot, losing his wicket for 28 against Boland. Nathan Lyon then removed Jadeja by trapping him LBW for 17.
Australia had piled a massive 474 on the board in their first innings.