Tendulkar and Praveen inspire India to series triumph

Australia v India, CB Series, 2nd final, Brisbane

In the final installment of its 29-year existence, a series that has become a part of Australia's summer culture came to a climactic end with a fitting humdinger at the Gabba.

Twenty three years after India's last significant limited-overs title in Australia, Sachin Tendulkar helped script another memorable chapter with an innings of skill and determination. There was to be no repeat of his twin centuries against Australia in 1998, but his 91 set up a total which, backed by Praveen Kumar's subtle-swinging accuracy, proved nine runs too much for Australia.

In a game that ebbed and flowed wonderfully, James Hopes took Australia agonisingly close to victory with his maiden fifty after Praveen returned from an 11-run 45th over to snap a threatening eight-wicket stand. Back when Australia dominated this tournament regularly Steve Waugh earned the moniker 'Ice Man' and under starry skies Hopes and Praveen gave it a modern context.

Hopes battled on with comfortable sweeps against the spinners and some deft placement down the ground. There was not a trace of emotion on face as he raised his fifty. Similarly, having given up 11 runs in his penultimate over, Praveen displayed awesome composure to bowl a three-run 47th, cleaning up Brett Lee.

That left Australia needing 29 from 18 balls. Sreesanth picked up a second wicket but Hopes refused to bow down, flat-batting a six over wide long-on to ratchet up the tension. With 13 required off the final over, Pathan came back on. A single to third man exposed Nathan Bracken, who chipped a slower ball to midwicket. Hopes crossed and drove a manic couple to long-off but could only drive the fourth ball into midwicket's diving lap. Sinking to the ground as India whooped and cried around him, Hopes cut an endearing figure, a hero on a losing side, but the entire Brisbane crowd stood to applaud a pulse-setting, nerve-wracking game - and the deserving winners.

The contest was set up by yet another masterclass from Tendulkar. In nearly three hours of nimble-footed driving, mainly to the off side, interspersed with soft on-side strokes, Tendulkar treated an appreciative crowd to a fine innings. India were steady during the Powerplays, scoring 36, 30 and 26 in three blocks, but made their best opening of the tournament. The ball didn't speed away to the ropes when the openers leaned into their drives and so they smartly adjusted gears, keeping the outfielders busy through a mixture of full-faced dabs to third man and flicks to deep square leg.

Tendulkar had a life on 7 when Ricky Ponting dropped a hard reflex catch at short cover, and he made it count. An utterly mistimed pull attempt off Nathan Bracken was the first sign of frustration but he quickly regained composure and decided to target Stuart Clark. His fifty came up from his 70th delivery and India had successfully chipped out a good start.

Some needless shots, however, allowed Australia back in. India would have preferred even 280 after this but having seized the initiative they allowed it to slip in a flurry of impetuous shots. Hopes allowed just one run in the 45th over, Bracken was accurate with his crafty mix of yorkers and slower deliveries, taking two wickets in the 48th over, and Lee kept it full as well.

At the SCG Tendulkar backed the bowlers' efforts with a sublime century and today they returned the favour. Especially Praveen, who for the second time in two high-pressure matches justified his new-ball promotion with the wickets of Australia's three most dangerous batsmen. Adam Gilchrist's final innings came to end with an edge and a walk but it was Ponting's horrendous attempt at a pull shot that really set off the alarm bells.

Michael Clarke's ability to judge length has been his strength in the tournament but he lost his off stump, playing a crude swipe across the line, to one that stayed low. Hayden made the most of mess-up between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Tendulkar, at first slip, when he was on 5, to keep the asking rate in control. Irfan Pathan was again the target of Hayden's ire and went for 37 from his first five overs. Hayden put on 89 with Andrew Symonds, whose eventful season continued with him shoulder charging, and Australia looked to be in the game.

At this stage Australia required another 138 and Michael Hussey showed there was fire in Australia's belly. Paddling and sweeping his way energetically in a 76-run stand with Hopes, he threatened to take the series to Adelaide. Hunting a target at over eight an over finally got to him, and he under-edged Sreesanth for a cool 44 in the 42nd over.

The rest turned into a tension-filled rollercoaster ride, during which India held their nerve to triumph. After a long and controversial tour Down Under, India now head home with their heads held high. For Australia, the last time they surrendered back-to-back series was 1983-84 and 1984-85, against West Indies, and 23 years later this loss would come as a chastening blow.

Magnificent Tendulkar seals victory

In 38 previous ODI innings in Australia , Sachin Tendulkar had never scored a hundred; in 11 previous one-day internationals against Australia in Sydney , India had never won. Both those jinxes were wiped out in a memorable evening at the SCG, as Tendulkar scripted a magnificent unbeaten 117 and shared a 123-run fourth-wicket stand with Rohit Sharma to take India to an emphatic six-wicket win and a 1-0 lead in the CB Series finals.

The match was a story of sizeable contributions by two openers - Matthew Hayden scored a brisk 82 - and two century partnerships for the fourth wicket - Andrew Symonds shared a 100-run stand with Hayden. Those efforts lifted Australia to a challenging 8 for 239, which, given the Australian bowling strength, might have been enough on another day. Today, though, they ran into an in-form Tendulkar.

From the outset, Tendulkar's approach suggested he was in the mood. In the first ten overs he only found the boundary once, through a savage lofted square-cut off Nathan Bracken, but the evidence that he was in top form came in other ways: the footwork was precise and decisive right from the start, and the judgment of length was impeccable. With Robin Uthappa, he gave India the perfect start, as both ran hard between the wickets, placed the ball into gaps, and put together 50 an excellent rate with scarcely a risk - there were just three fours in the stand.

The innings wobbled briefly thereafter, though, as Michael Hussey pulled off a magnificent catch at deep midwicket - it will surely rank among the catches of the season - to get rid of Uthappa. Two more wickets fell quickly, as Gautam Gambhir failed to respond to an obvious call for a second run, and Yuvraj Singh continued to flounder abysmally against Brad Hogg's spin.

At 3 for 87, the match was perfectly in the balance, before Tendulkar found the perfect ally in Rohit, and their stand turned out to be the match-defining one. With Rohit secure in defence and attack, it allowed Tendulkar to play normally too, and what followed was a treat. After the early threat of Brett Lee had been negated, Tendulkar turned his attention to the others: Hogg was driven over extra-cover for two glorious fours while Mitchell Johnson was perfectly tipped over slip. All along, he pierced the infield, took the singles, and ensured the asking rate never got beyond control. A cramp towards the end of the innings restricted certain strokes, while a beamer from Lee - who apologised immediately - crashed into his shoulder when he was on 98, but today he was not to be denied. The century finally came with the dab to gully, and the celebrations indicated how special it was.

At the other end, Rohit showed why he is held in such high regard by the experts. He began with two glorious straight-drives off Bracken, and then continued in such serene fashion that Australia scarcely had a sniff. He finally fell immediately after Tendulkar's hundred, but by then the result was only a formality.

The target eventually turned out to be inadequate, but at the halfway stage it seemed Australia had enough to offer a stern test to the Indians. Their innings was largely built around one partnership, which came after they had slumped 3 for 24. India's move to change things around paid off quite spectacularly as Praveen Kumar, who got the new ball ahead of Irfan Pathan, induced two poor pull shots from Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting. When Michael Clarke got a rough caught-behind decision off an indipper from Ishant Sharma which clipped pad, Australia were three down inside six overs and India were off to a dream start.

Obviously, it mattered not a jot to Hayden, who had got his innings going by bludgeoning Praveen over his head in the first over to get to 6000 ODI runs. Four balls after Clarke fell, Hayden announced his intent even more emphatically, taking two strides down the pitch and swatting Praveen over midwicket. From there, it was a run deluge for the next hour, as Hayden imposed his commanding presence on the game. Pathan, who had an entirely forgettable day, leaked three fours in an over on two separate occasions to Hayden as he pummelled boundaries through the off side to bring up his half-century off a mere 43 balls.

Hayden's blistering onslaught allowed the out-of-form Symonds to settle in, and Australia seemed to running away with it, before the spinners pulled it back for India. Chawla, who was drafted into the side instead of Sreesanth, got the ball as soon as the Powerplays were out of the way, and immediately dropped into an impeccable line, giving the batsmen few scoring opportunities. Harbhajan had gone for 17 in his first two overs, but with more protection in the outfield, the flight was more pronounced and caused fatal mishits from both Symonds and Hayden.

The two blows, within five overs of each other, caused a sharp decline in the scoring rate, as Hussey and James Hopes were forced to do the rebuilding act. The absence of Ishant, who inured a finger bowling and didn't complete his ten overs, was a bit of a blow but Yuvraj slipped in with four tidy overs. Hussey batted sensibly, ensuring that Australia played the entire 50 overs and pushed towards what seemed like a challenging total, but that was before Sachin Tendulkar got into the act.