Australia were 214 for three at tea after winning the toss on the opening day of the fourth and final Test against India at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.

Ricky Ponting passed 13,000 Test runs Tuesday as he shared in a big partnership with Michael Clarke to put Australia in a strong position on the opening day of the fourth Test against India.

Ponting, the third all-time highest Test runscorer behind Indians Sachin Tendulkar (15,432) and Rahul Dravid (13,262), batted throughout the middle session with Clarke to recover the home side after the loss of three morning wickets.

At tea, Ricky Ponting was not out 91 with skipper Michael Clarke on 71.

Scoreboard:

Australia 1st innings:
E. Cowan c Laxman b Ashwin 30
D. Warner lbw b Zaheer 8
S. Marsh b Ashwin 3
R. Ponting not out 91
M. Clarke not out 71

Extras: (lb5, w6) 11

Total: (3 wickets for, 58 overs) 214

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Warner), 2-31 (Marsh), 3-84 (Cowan)

Bowling:
Zaheer 11-1-32-1
Yadav 9-0-67-0
Ashwin 19-4-58-2
Sharma 14-4-35-0
Sehwag 4-0-14-0
Kohli 1-0-3-0