MITCHELL JOHNSON hunted down India's champion batsmen one by one to lead Australia to a powerful position on day three of the Bangalore Test, but the old antagonist Harbhajan Singh returned to frustrate Australia last night.

Johnson's outstanding morning spell humbled India's classy top order, with Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly the only recognised batsmen able to mount any meaningful resistance to the resurgent left-armer.

Having crashed Sachin Tendulkar's party in the morning, removing the little master before he could approach Brian Lara's world record for Test runs and causing a stony silence to settle on Chinnaswamy Stadium, Johnson returned after tea to end Ganguly's vigil on 47.

Deep in the last session, though, Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan mounted a spirited lower-order partnership to keep India in the first Test, carrying the home team past 300, still well short of Australia's first-innings total of 430.

The stand ended when Harbhajan took one swipe too many at Shane Watson and was caught behind for 54 - his team's top score. When bad light stopped play, India were 8-313, trailing by 117 runs.

Not long before, tensions mounted as the absorbing first game of the series built towards its crescendo, with Zaheer exchanging angry words first with Brad Haddin and then Ricky Ponting when rain halted play during the last session.

Harbhajan emerged from the break in a defiant mood, twice clubbing Brett Lee to the boundary with bold pull shots and later slapping a ball from Watson down the ground for four after reaching a fighting half-century.

He and Zaheer took up the challenge from the two former captains Dravid and Ganguly, who steadied the Indian innings from a perilous position of 4-105 with a 49-run stand before Dravid fell to Watson for 51.

Dravid may have been unlucky, since he was a long way forward when the ball struck high on his front pad, but Watson clenched his fists in triumph. That left Ganguly to ensure India avoided the follow-on, which in the aftermath of the destruction wrought by Johnson in the morning was no sure thing.

Australia were up and about from the moment Lee made the first breakthrough to dismiss Gautam Gambhir in the second over of the day and what followed was a well-planned and well-executed pace assault.

Lee and Johnson used the treacherous pitch to their advantage, and Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S Laxman all succumbed during the morning session.

No wicket was celebrated more lustily by the Australians than that of the little master Tendulkar, which brought an abrupt halt to the excitement in the stands as Tendulkar walked out to bat needing 77 runs to overhaul Brian Lara as Test cricket's most prolific batsman.

Lara had sent his best wishes from Mumbai, where he was in town for the Indian Cricket League season, and the nation was willing its greatest hero towards the milestone.

Tendulkar survived a run-out chance on four when Clarke's throw to the non-striker's end missed its target, but gave the fans something to go wild about when he got on the front foot and pushed Lee through the covers for four. There was a nervous moment when a catch lobbed just short of Cameron White on the off side, and it turned out to be a premonition of his departure for 13, still 63 runs short of Lara's world record tally of 11,953 runs.

Having watched Tendulkar squeezed one past gully for four, Johnson produced a fuller ball that was spooned up to White, who took a sharp catch and threw the ball in the air in elation before he was mobbed by his new Test teammates.

The Indians resumed at 0-68 and Lee started the collapse in the second over of the day with a wonderful ball that was delivered from around the wicket and straightened to left-handed Gambhir, trapping him him lbw for 21. The pitch quickly began to resemble a minefield, Lee getting the ball to dart back in off the pitch at Dravid.

Sehwag, the aggressor the previous evening, added only a couple of runs to his overnight score of 43 when he swished at a full, wide delivery from Johnson and was caught at first slip by Matthew Hayden.