Team India Outsmart Aussies

India effected a rare Australian collapse to script their first win over the world champions intwo years in the second match of the TVS Cup tri-series at Gwalior tonight.

Set to chase a challenging 284, Australia, cruising at 132 for no loss in 25 overs at one stage, lost nine of theirwickets for 114 runs to start their campaign in the tri-series, which has New Zealand as the third team, with a 37-run defeatin the thrilling day-night encounter.

India thrived on good all-round display by their players to outplay the Kangaroos and give their confidence a boostafter four defeats in a row to the Aussies in one-sided encounters in recent exchanges.

For stand-in-skipper Rahul Dravid it was his fourth victory from six matches as captain.He has one defeat under his belt, one is a no result, thanks to the abandonedtri-series opener against the Kiwis in Chennai on Thursday.

While the batsmen did their job -- Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman scored centuries-- the bowlers also showed great character in rallying from a hopeless position to turnthe tables on the champion side.

It were the second spells of Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble which fetched India four wickets for the addition of justnine runs as the packed Capt. Roop Singh Singh Stadium suddenly came to life with the unexpected twist in the tale.

And when Sehwag dismissed Damien Martyn (16) and Michael Bevan (18) off the fourth and last ball of the 35th over toreduce the awesome Aussies to 176 for five, celebrations had already begun.

The success with the ball meant Sehwag made up for his duck in the afternoon after India had won the toss and electedto bat.

Man-of-the-match Tendulkar capped a good day out in the middle with the wicket of Ian Harvey (4) while Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer polished off the tail and reduce victory to a formality.

It was Zaheer who triggered off the collapse in his incisive second spell by gifting India the prized wicket of  Adam Gilchrist who looked dangerous with his crafty batting. Gilchrist misjudged the left-arm speedster's cunningdelivery and tried to play across the line only to be clean bowled for 83 that contained eight hits to the fence.

Gilchrist's 79-ball blitzkrieg overshadowed world's highest Test run-getter Matthew Hayden who was strangelysubdued during 47-run knock that came off 76 balls with just two fours.

Other than the 132-run stand for the opening wicket, Australia failed to build any substantial partnerships, the next highest being the 40-run association between Brad Hogg (29) and Andy Bichel (14).

Earlier, Tendulkar and Laxman exploited Australia's mediocre second-string bowling attack to hit well-paced centuries as the Indian batsmen finally found their bearings against the world champions.

The 31-year-old Tendulkar was at his vintage best as he returned to torment Australia and scored his seventh century,the highest ever in one-day cricket by any batsman against the Aussies. The earlier record stood in name of former WestIndies batsman Desmond Haynes who had six tons to his credit.

Tendulkar's 100 came off 119 balls and included nine fours and a six while the in-form Laxman scored his 102 off134 balls with the help of as many fours.

Stitching a 191-run partnership for the second wicket, the highest ever for any wicket at the Roop Singh Stadium, theduo set the stage for a late onslaught which saw India hammer 90 runs in the last ten overs, thanks to cameos by YuvrajSingh (44 off 33 balls) and Ajit Agarkar (22 off 10 balls).

The run-feast also ensured that the advantage of winning the toss was not wasted as India paced their innings well andfor the first time in two years they looked in command of the proceedings against the formidable Aussies. 

India last won a one-day match against them in 2001 in Indore and were handed humiliating thrashings in one-sidedcontests in the World Cup six months ago in South Africa.

But it did not begin on the right note for the hosts whose first match of thetri-series was washed out.

Sehwag was dismissed off the very third ball of the first over by speedster Nathan Brackenwhen he snicked a widish delivery and Matthew Hayden did well to take a diving catch to give his team the breakthrough that it needed.

But a surprisingly sluggish show in the field and a bowling attack of the Aussies that lacked the sting helped Indian recover from the early setback.

A little tentative at first, Tendulkar opened up soon and hit Bracken for a couple of fours to gain in confidence.

Speedster Brad Williams had a nightmarish sixth over when he was hit for 12 runs with Laxman hitting two fours andTendulkar one to be pulled out of the attack immediately.

India raced to 74 for one in the 15 overs and then slowed down things a little to concentrate on consolidating theinnings even as the two batsmen reached their half-centuries with some intelligent batting.

Tendulkar reached his 68th half-century with a four off Ian Harvey with the help of nine fours.

Once Tendulkar was dismissed, caught by Gilchrist off Bracken for 100, Yuvraj joined in the run-making spree andplayed a typically aggressive knock as Laxman looked content in playing second fiddle.

Laxman was run out for 102 with Andrew Symonds making a direct hit and Yuvraj too returned to pavilion within a spaceof eight runs as the Indians tried to accelerate their scoring rate.

But Yuvraj ensured he heaped more misery on Williams by hammering one six and three fours in one over by the bowlerwho is touring India for the first time.

PTI