Australia beat India in one-day thriller

VADODARA, India, (Reuters) – World champions  Australia kept their cool in the last over to beat India by four  runs in a thrilling one-dayer yesterday. 

The home team, chasing a daunting target of 293, slid to 201  for seven before a plucky eighth-wicket stand of 84 by Harbhajan  Singh (49) and Praveen Kumar (40 not out) gave them hope in the  opening game of the seven-match series.  

India needed nine off the last over from Peter Siddle but  the paceman bowled accurately, conceding just four runs and  clean bowling Harbhajan. 

“It was a pretty good performance until the last six or  seven overs of the game,” said Australia captain Ricky Ponting  at the prize-giving ceremony.  

“It was a terrific game of cricket in the end and we would  have been disappointed had we lost. They kept fighting till the  last ball and Harbhajan got them really close.”  

Earlier, Ponting (74), man of the match Michael Hussey (73),  Tim Paine (50) and Cameron White (51) excelled in Australia’s  innings of 292 for eight after they chose to bat first.  

Fast bowler Ashish Nehra provided India with an early  breakthrough when he had Shane Watson lbw for five.   
  
CUT LOOSE  

Ponting cut loose though, putting on 97 for the second  wicket with opener Paine and 49 for the next with White before  falling lbw to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.  

Vice-captain Hussey stepped on the acclerator, sharing a  stand of 76 with White and smashing his 73 off just 54 balls  with eight fours and a six.  

Left-hander Gautam Gambhir then hit 68 to boost India after  Australia had removed Virender Sehwag (13) and Sachin Tendulkar  (14) cheaply.  

Explosive batsman Yuvraj Singh missed the game with a finger  injury but Gambhir put on 64 with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni  (34) for the fourth wicket to keep India in the contest.  

All-rounder Mitchell Johnson then trapped Gambhir lbw with a  yorker and caught and bowled Suresh Raina for nine.  

Watson followed up by having Dhoni caught at mid-on before  Harbhajan and Praveen came together in a 57-ball stand that gave  Australia a mighty scare, especially after clubbing Watson for  20 runs in the penultimate over.  

The second game is in Nagpur on Wednesday.

Scoreboard

Australia innings
S. Watson lbw b Nehra                                                       5
T. Paine c Dhoni b Sharma                                            50
R. Ponting lbw b Jadeja                                                  74
C. White c Raina b Nehra                                                51
M. Hussey c Kohli b Sharma                                         73
A. Voges c Gambhir b Harbhajan                                  3
J. Hopes run out                                                                 14
M. Johnson not out                                                           14
B. Lee b Sharma                                                                    0
Extras: (lb-2, w-4, nb-2)                                                   8
Total (eight wickets, 50 overs)                                 292
Fall of wickets: 1-5 2-102 3-151 4-227 5-233 6-256 7-291 8-292
Bowling: Kumar 10-0-77-0 (w-2), Nehra 10-0-58-2 (nb-1), Sharma 10-1-50-3 (nb-1), Harbhajan 10-0-57-1 (w-2), Jadeja 9-0-39-1, Raina 1-0-9-0

India innings
V. Sehwag c Paine b Lee                                                  13
S. Tendulkar c Ponting b Watson                                 14
G. Gambhir lbw b Johnson                                             68
V. Kohli c Watson b Voges                                             30
M. Dhoni c Lee b Watson                                                 34
S. Raina c&b Johnson                                                          9
R. Jadeja lbw b Hauritz                                                       5
H. Singh b Siddle                                                                 49
P. Kumar not out                                                                40
A. Nehra not out                                                                    2
Extras (lb-10, w-14) 24 Total (eight wickets, 50 overs) 288
Fall of wickets: 1-25 2-45 3-103 4-167 5-183 6-186 7-201 8-285
Bowling: Lee 6-0-28-1, Siddle 9-0-55-1 (w-3), Watson 10-0-70-2, Johnson 10-0-59-2 (w-5), Hopes 2-0-10-0, Voges 4-0-22-1, Hauritz 9-1-34-1.