Aussie Juggernaut Rolls On

Weighed down by a merciless Australian batting assault, India buckled underthe pressure of chasing a huge total as the world champions warmed up for the summit showdown with a comfortable 61-run victory in the TVSCup triangular series at Bangalore today.

After Australia posted a mammoth 347 for two riding on blistering centuries by Adam Gilchrist and RickyPonting, Sachin Tendulkar led a spirited Indian fightback with a classy 89 before the hosts lost steam to be stopped at 286 for eightin their allotted 50 overs in an absorbing floodlit encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The Indians, who desperately needed a victory to bolster their chances of making it to the November 18 final inKolkata, were outplayed in all departments of the game by the formidable Aussies who recorded their fifth consecutivevictory in the series.

The only consolation from the defeat was the bonus point the hosts got which has tied them on points with New Zealand,both teams having ten points from five matches.

The Australians, who have already qualified to the final, widened their lead atop the points table having garnered 28points from six outings.

India have no option but to defeat New Zealand in their last match in Hyderabad on Saturday to make it to the majesticEden Gardens in Kolkata for the summit showdown. 

Earlier, electing to bat, Australia piled up 347 for two, the highest-ever score at the venue, with Gilchrist (111) andPonting (108 not out) tearing the Indian bowling to shreds.

Only Tendulkar could hang around for long as Sehwag (39), Saurav Ganguly (37) and Rahul Dravid (34) got the startsbut could not build the innings which compounded India's misery.

The Indian run chase began in right earnest with Tendulkar and Sehwag stitching 103 runs for the opening wicket to provide a solid foundation.

Sehwag, who had not played the last match against new Zealand due to an injury, struggled to find his rhythm in theinitial stages, being beaten repeatedly by the two Australian new ball operators Brad Williams and MichaelKasprowicz.

Tendulkar, who has been in very good nick, set the tempo by slamming Kasprowicz for two boundaries in his very firstover but the Indians could not really pick up the run rate with Sehwag struggling to get the runs at the other end.

The Delhi player was lucky to get a longer tenure at the crease as Mathew Hayden dropped a rather simple catch at firstslip when he was on six, Kasprowicz being the unlucky bowler.

In the same over, Sehwag got another life when Damien Martyn spilled a difficult chance at the cover region much tothe delight of a capacity crowd.

After scratching around for a while, Sehwag unleashed a flurry of strokes, picking up Andrew Bichel for some specialtreatment by clobbering him for 16 runs in the 15th over of the innings.

Tendulkar, on the other hand, looked quite comfortable as he did the bulk of the scoring during the partnership whichraised hopes of a spirited Indian fightback.

The opening pair put on 103 runs in 17.3 overs before Ian Harvey provided the breakthrough for the Aussies by evictingSehwag for a 53-ball 39.

Sehwag went for an attacking shot but missed the ball completely as it kept low to dislodge his stumps.

The stylish V.V.S. Laxman, who joined the action after Sehwag's dismissal, put on 45 runs for the second wicket withTendulkar before falling prey to spinner Michael Clarke, trying to accelerate the pace of scoring.

Laxman made room to play a drive on the off-side but failed to connect the ball properly and Andrew Symonds pulledoff a spectacular catch at extra cover to reduce the hosts to 148 for two in 25overs.

Skipper Ganguly, returning to the team after a fairly long injury-induced lay-off, got down tothe run scoring business immediately as he clobbered Clarke for three consecutive boundaries to put the run chase back on track.

Tendulkar, who notched up his 64th one-day half century by slamming Harvey to the boundary, kept the run flow goingwithout taking too many risks.

While Tendulkar displayed his class by executing some glorious shots on both sides of the wicket, Ganguly was alsoprompt to dispatch the loose deliveries to the fence as the duo tried to salvage the situation for the hosts. 

But a big jolt awaited the Indians in the 29th over which saw Harvey getting the prized scalp of Tendulkar much to therelief of the Australians.

The batting maestro was bowled by a ball which skidded and kept low, hitting his pads first before dislodging thestumps. His 91-ball 89 contained 12 boundaries and a mighty six.

The departure of Tendulkar virtually opened up the floodgates as the Indians lost Ganguly, Dravid and YuvrajSingh as all the batsmen tried to force the pace of scoring. 

Earlier, man-of-the-match Gilchrist gave an awesome display of strokeplay to crack his maiden century against theIndians before Ponting took centrestage with an unbeaten 102-ball 108 to push the hosts on thebackfoot.

Gilchrist set the packed Chinnaswamy Stadium ablaze clobbering 14 boundaries and a six during his knock as theworld champions plundered runs at will on what appeared to be a very good batting strip.

After Gilchrist's rampage, Ponting maintained the tempo with a flurry of strokes to notch up his 15th one-day centuryand help Australia post the highest score at this venue, eclipsing India's 315 against the same opponents in 2001.

Martyn (61 not out) and Mathew Hayden (44) also made merry with useful contributions, leaving the hosts with adifficult asking rate of nearly seven runs per over.

The two Australian openers provided the launching pad for the assault with a rollicking 119-runopening partnership which completely left the hosts in a daze.

The two famed openers were in devastating form as they tore the Indian bowling to shreds with a barrage ofboundaries, compiling as many as 105 runs in the first 15 overs.

Gilchrist set the ball rolling by slamming the first ball of the innings by speedster Ashish Nehra to the boundary andthen slammed another boundary to collect 15 runs from the very first over.

PTI