India won the toss and elected to bat first. The opening stand between Sehwag (72) and Chopra (45) was worth 123 runs. The spotlight, though, was on Sachin Tendulkar, who had not had success with the bat on the tour. He responded by scoring 241 unbeaten runs and put up 353 runs for the fourth wicket with Laxman (178). A cameo from 'keeper Parthiv Patel took India to 705–7 declared, India's highest-ever Test score. Australia started well, with Hayden and Langer putting up a 147-run opening stand. But they were in trouble at 7–350 before Katich and Gillespie put on 117 runs for the eighth wicket to take Australia to 474, Anil Kumble taking 8–141.