MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) —Australia regained its composure, pushing its lead beyond 250, before Siraj trapped Labuschagne lbw at 148-7. Mitchell Starc (5) was run out shortly after tea at 156-8.

Pat Cummins was caught at slip 17 runs later, but India fumbled a fourth chance when Mohammed Siraj put down a caught-and-bowled chance when Lyon was on five.

Nathan Lyon (41 not out) and Scott Boland (10 not out) added to India’s frustrations with an unbeaten 55-run partnership for the final wicket. Jasprit Bumrah had Lyon caught in slips on 35 in the final over of the day, but it was a no-ball.

The highest successful run-chase in a test match since 2000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is Australia’s 231-2 in 2013/2014 against England.

Nitish Kumar Reddy said it would be important to have “one or two good partnerships” to give India a chance of victory.

“We can see later on the fourth day the pitch was doing a little bit more,” Reddy said. “We don’t need to put more pressure (on ourselves) by saying the pitch is doing this or that.”

The five-match series is level at 1-1. The fifth and final Australia-India test is scheduled to start on Jan. 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.