New Delhi: Australian pace bowler Stuart Clark admitted on Thursday that his team found it difficult to contain V.V.S. Laxman.

Talking to the media at the end of the second day’s play in the third Test match at the Kotla, Clark said: “He (Laxman) has been a great batsman over the years. He has played 99 Tests and has an average of around 40. He had some big scores against us in the past.

“It is not that we did not have any plan for him, but he was just too good,” Clark said.

The Aussie also praised Laxman’s batting style. “He is very wristy, hits to mid-wicket from outside the off-stump. He played really well, got on top and once the momentum was lost it was hard to get it back,” Clark said.

Australia, however, are hopeful of saving the match in the next three days.

“It will be a sort of mental battle for the guys for the next three days,” Clark said. “I think our guys are capable of doing that. We have some batsmen, who have an average of nearly 50 and I hope we can do it,” he commented.

Asked how Australia would plan to save the match, Clark said: “We are not looking at saving the match now. We just have to bat well for the next two days, post a reasonable score and see how it goes from there.”