NEW DELHI (AP) - The third test between India and Australia drifted towards a draw on Sunday, as V.V.S Laxman struck a half-century and Sachin Tendulkar hit 47 to eliminate any final-day concerns for the hosts, who reached 193-5 at tea.

India, which had a comfortable lead of 229 at the final break, negated Australia’s slim victory hopes with a 52-run stand between Tendulkar and Laxman for the fifth-wicket.

Tendulkar was closing on his second half-century of the match when he played back to Cameron White and edged to Matthew Hayden at first slip.

The dismissal reduced India to 145-5 in the middle session before Laxman, who scored 200 not out in the first innings, and Sourav Ganguly guided India to the interval and within sight of a draw that would keep India 1-0 up in the series with only one test to play.

Laxman played some delightful drives and was unbeaten on 55 from 101 balls, having registered his fifty with a cover drive for four off Michael Clarke. Ganguly, who thumped Clarke for a straight six, was unbeaten on 22.

India employed a cautious approach to avoid the possibility of a batting collapse in the morning, but still lost Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid.

The breakthroughs gave the visitors some hope of running through the Indian order and staging a fifth-day run chase to square the series, but the Tendulkar-Laxman stand used up valuable time.

India resumed the final day at 43-2 - with a lead of 79 - and began watchfully, adding just 28 runs in the first hour.

Vice-captain Clarke had said Australia still considered itself a chance of forcing a come-from-behind victory and Brett Lee secured the first breakthrough after 30 minutes when he bowled Dravid.

Lee (2-41) delivered a full inswinger that Dravid (11) attempted to drive, but the batsman got an inside edge onto his stumps.

Opener Gambhir, who followed his first-innings 206 with 36, was untroubled until he missed a ball angled into him from Mitchell Johnson and was given out lbw by Aleem Dar despite the ball appearing to be heading down the legside.

Gambhir is waiting to discover the outcome of his appeal against a one-test ban for elbowing Australian bowler Shane Watson in the chest on Wednesday.

Australia was dismissed for 577 on the fourth day in reply to India’s first-innings 613-7 declared.scoreboard

G Gambhir lbw Johnson 36

V Sehwag b Lee 16

I Sharma c Ponting b Clark 1

R Dravid b Lee 11

S Tendulkar c Hayden b White 47

VVS Laxman not out 55

S Ganguly not out 22

Extras: (4lb, 1w) 5

Overs: 69.

Batting time: 305 minutes.

Fall of wicket: 1-29, 2-34, 3-53, 4-93, 5-145.

Still to bat: MS Dhoni, A Kumble, Z Khan, A Mishra.

Bowling: Lee 13-3-41-2, S Clark 12-6-22-1, Clarke 16-5-48-0, Katich 1-0-5-0, Johnson 12-0-23-1 (1w), White 8-0-23-1, Watson 7-0-27-0.

Umpires: B Bowden, (NZ), A Dar, (Pak).

TV Umpire: S Shastri, (Ind).

Match referee: C Broad, (Eng).

Toss: won by India