Decisive spell from a true match-winner

For the second time in two days, a short burst of Mitchell Johnson magic turned the second Commonwealth Bank Test in Australia's favour.

Having rescued his team with the bat on day three, smashing 88 to steer the home side from a dangerous 6-247  to virtual parity with India's 408, Johnson blasted out India's middle order on day four with the pace and aggression that has guided him to 73 wickets since he returned to the Test side just over 12 months ago. 

The 33-year-old, who by his own admission has "been a little bit off" in recent weeks, dismissed Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in the space of just 11 balls early in the morning session.

The Aussies had started the day in the box seat with a lead of 26 runs, but still faced the potential of a tricky run chase on a fourth-day surface that despite still having a greenish tinge, was starting to break up having baked under 35 degree temperatures for almost four days.

But Johnson broke the back of India's batting line-up before injured opener Shikhar Dhawan hit 81 to help set Australia 128 for victory, a target they reached with just four wickets in hand.

Fifteen wickets were lost in 64.4 overs today, compared to 21 in the previous three days.

Former Test quick Brett Lee says those numbers underline the value of Johnson's brief yet effective burst this morning.

"That 3-10, that spell that he bowled is the reason why the game finished on the fourth day," Lee told cricket.com.au.

"If he didn't blast them out, they could have been playing well into tomorrow afternoon and they could have well been chasing 180 to 200 runs.

"It could have been totally different story on a deteriorating wicket.

"I think it's been a great wicket for Test cricket; it's deteriorated now and we've seen the ball come off the cracks.

"Another 50 or 60 runs and it could have been a totally different story."

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Johnson celebrates during his match-turning spell // Getty Images

While Johnson's seven-year Test career has at times been as unpredictable as the Gabba wicket was this afternoon, he has consistently followed attacking cameos with the bat with blistering displays with the ball.

In the 11 matches in which he has passed 50, he has averaged 17.40 with the ball in the innings that follow, including a match haul of 9-103 against England at this ground last summer, which came after he hit 64 on the opening day.

It's a statistic that suggests Johnson, like most cricketers, thrives on confidence.

While the left-armer has admitted that he has lacked self-belief in the past, the surety of mind that is a by-product of his performances over the past 12 months no doubt helped him shrug off the bouncers, both verbal and physical, that came his way on day three.

With the home side still 161 runs in arrears, Johnson was welcomed to the crease by at least three Indian players – Rohit, Kohli and Dhawan – only too keen to remind him of the situation of the match, and his unflattering figures of 0-81 from the first innings.

He was then forced to pull and hook his way through the early stages of his innings as India's quicks, faster than most to visit these shores, peppered him with short balls.

Johnson's decision to fight fire with fire paid off as he struck 13 boundaries and a six in his 93-ball innings, five of which were cross-bat shots from balls short of a length.

India skipper MS Dhoni defended his side's tactics, saying this evening that several of Johnson's aerial strokes fell just out of the reach of fielders.

As for the verbal barrage, which Johnson seemed to shrug off with little more than a smile, Lee says India targeted the wrong man.

"You don't normally walk into a bull pen with a red rag and wave it around, do you?" he said.

"When someone like Mitchell Johnson gets half a sniff, he's such a great competitor and an awesome guy to watch in full flight.

"And when he gets runs, he gets wickets; it's a proven thing.

"There are some players that can be targeted.

"And obviously there's nothing wrong with that. That's all part of Test cricket and we enjoy seeing that because it's a good contest.

"I don't think Mitchell Johnson is the type of guy that you can unsettle by getting stuck into him from a verbal sense.

"Maybe they should choose a different player that is less likely to bowl 150kph at them."

Johnson's match-turning performances with bat and ball weren't enough, however, to earn him the man-of-the-match award for the 10th time in his Test career.

That honour went to new skipper Steve Smith, who became the ninth Australian, and first since Graham Yallop in 1978, to score a century on his debut as captain.

It was a decision that surprised some, including Indian broadcaster and cricket.com.au columnist Harsha Bhogle.