Perth, January 16:

India lost four wickets in the final session to undo much of their earlier good work with the bat on the first day of the third Test against Australia at the WACA here on Wednesday.

India were 297-6 at stumps, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan both undefeated on eight. India started the day’s final session in a commanding position at 177-2, with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in fine touch.

However, Tendulkar (71) was the victim of another poor umpiring decision, while Dravid (93) and VVS Laxman (26) threw their wickets away with poor shots to allow the home side back into the match.

Umpire Asad Rauf adjudged Tendulkar leg before wicket to Brett Lee (3-64), despite the fact the ball appeared to be passing over the top of the stumps. The dismissal meant India were 198-3 and it was a turning point in the day’s play, with Sourav Ganguly then falling cheaply to Mitchell Johnson.

Dravid holed out to off-spin of Andrew Symonds late in the day, and just six runs later Laxman fell to Lee, as India slipped to 284-6. It was a disappointing end to the day for the Indians, after Tendulkar and Dravid added 139 runs for the third wicket to steady their side after the loss of two quick wickets before lunch.

Dravid showed he was steadily regaining his best form with some glorious cover drives. Dravid suffered a lapse in concentration and scooped Symonds straight to Ricky Ponting at mid-off. He faced 183 balls and struck 15 fours.

The Australians won the second Test in Sydney by 122 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series and victory here would mean a world record 17th consecutive Test win.

The home side made two changes, with injured batsman Matthew Hayden replaced by uncapped opener Chris Rogers and speedster Shaun Tait coming in for spinner Brad Hogg. India also made two changes, with spinner Harbhajan Singh dropped for Pathan and Yuvraj Singh replaced by Virender Sehwag, who made 29.