Australia captain Ricky Ponting hit a gutsy 77 to steer his faltering team out of trouble on the opening day of the second and final Test against India on Saturday.

Ponting's 54th half-century helped the tourists survive a middle-order collapse to reach 285-5 by stumps in front of 20,000 boisterous home fans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Marcus North was unbeaten on 43 and wicketkeeper Tim Paine was on eight when bad light halted play 4.1 overs early.

Australia are seeking a series-levelling win after they lost the dramatic first Test in Mohali by one wicket.

Shane Watson and Simon

Katich gave the tourists a flying start with an opening stand of 99 after Ponting won the toss and elected to bat in overcast conditions.

Watson hit 57, his third successive half-century in the series, and Katich made 43 on a moisture-laden wicket that afforded movement to the seamers and turn for the spinners.

Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha turned the tables in the postlunch session, grabbing three wickets for 33 runs as Australia stumbled to 132-3.

Ponting led his team's revival by adding 66 for the fourth wicket with Michael Hussey (34) and 58 for the fifth with North.

Ponting, who hit 12 boundaries, was dismissed in the final session when he missed a straight ball from part-time

spinner Suresh Raina and was declared leg-before.

"That wicket by Raina helped us greatly because Ponting was playing so well,” said Indian batsman Virender Sehwag.

"The important thing now is to dismiss Australia cheaply and then put on a big score because the wicket is good and it will help batting over the next two days."

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoyed a mixed day in the field after losing his 10th successive toss in Test cricket.

Watson, who scored 126 and 56 in the first Test, made light of the heavy conditions to build on his good form. But he was stunned by Ponting's dismissal.

"He was batting so beautifully, there's no doubt he will be

pretty frustrated, said Watson of his captain.

"It was an important innings for him to set up some partnerships with Mike Hussey and Marcus North for awhile there.

"Marcus is looking very good. It will be very nice for him and for the team to be able to post a good score, because it is a really nice batting wicket and we need a good total."

Katich fell in the first over after resumption when, having hit the third ball from Harbhajan for a boundary, he edged the fifth to Rahul Dravid at first slip.

Watson departed seven overs later when he attempted to cut left-arm spinner Ojha and edged a sharp catch to Dhoni behind the stumps.

Michael Clarke, who hit a century on debut at the same venue in 2004, made 14 when he edged Harbhajan to shortleg, where Raina dived to his left to take a low catch.

Hussey's defiant stand with Ponting ended in the second

over after tea when he was caught at gully by Sehwag off Zaheer.

Earlier, India's Venkatsai Laxman was ruled out of the Test after failing to recover fully from back spasms suffered during his match-winning knock of 73 not out at Mohali.

Laxman was replaced by debutant Cheteshwar Pujara, while opener Murali Vijay and Sreesanth came in for the injured duo of Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma.

Australia awarded a Test cap to lanky fast bowler Peter George, who replaced the injured Doug Bollinger.

SCORES IN BRIEF

AUSTRALIA: First innings 285 for 5 in 85.5 overs (Ponting 77, Watson 57, North 43 not out, Katich 43, Hussey 34; Harbhajan2-100, Raina 1-12) INDIA: Dhoni, Sehwag, Vijay, Dravid, Tendulkar, Pujara, Raina, Harbhajan, Ojha, Zaheer, Sreesanth.

Toss: Australia.

Umpires: Ian Gould and Billy Bowden.