Brisbane, Mar 04 (ANI): India won the Commonwealth Bank Series in spectacular fashion on Tuesday.
India put all the sledging of the past to rest as they beat World Champions Australia by nine runs in a cliffhanger second final of the Commonwealth Bank tri-series to script history at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The series win came after a long hiatus of 23 years, a victory that became the symbol of defiance to a hard series that made headlines on the ground...and off it as well.
Sreesanth made his presence felt in the electrifying Brisbane atmosphere as he got the right wicket at the right time with Australia falling short of giving an apt reply to some stinging deliveries sent down by the Indian pacers, and some guilish ones from the tweakers.
Speedster S Sreesanth joined the festivities at Brisbane as he claimed the wicket of Mike Hussey just at the juncture when the team required it the most.
For the second time in two high-pressure matches, Praveen Kumar justified the decision to give him the new ball with the wickets of Australia's three most dangerous batsmen. Kumar also bagged the man-of-the match award for the second time.
When it was Australia's turn to bat under lights at the Gabba the top wobbled once again, putting immense pressure on Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, whose eventful season continued with him shoulder charging a streaker while chasing 259 in the second final.
Another Hayden half-century carried Australia to 3 for 115 by the halfway mark and his 83-run association with Symonds has kept this contest alive.
India clawed their way back into the match due to a mix-up between Hayden and Symonds that resulted in the former batsman's exit from the ground.
This was followed by a scintillating delivery from Harbhajan that got Symonds plumb in front of the wicket. With the two set batsmen out in a single over, India sensed a historic victory on Oz soil.
Kumar made his presence felt at Brisbane as he got the wicket of Michael Clarke just when the duo of Clarke/Hayden started to lend some stability to the innings.
The speedster proved yet again that his swing was becoming fearsome for the Oz batsmen by every delivery, giving the breakthroughs to his team at the right time.
Kumar stunned Ricky Ponting with a tearing fast delivery that got his wicket in the crucial final at Gabba. The fall of second wicket in the first few overs of the innings sent shockwaves down the Oz camp as they started the run chase in a nightmarish manner in front of a charged up crowd.
Kumar sounded the warning bells for the Aussie line-up early on in the innings as he claimed the prized wicket of Gilchrist at a score of just 2 runs.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar missed scoring his second successive century by nine runs as India piled up a competitive 258 for 9 against Australia in the second finals of the cricket tri-series on Tuesday.
Thanks to a workmanlike 91 by Sachin Tendulkar, India today posted a competitive 258 for the loss of nine wickets in their 50 overs against Australia in the second of the three Commonwealth Bank tri-series finals being played at the Gabba here.
In reply to the Indian total, Australia got off to a not so happy start with wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist being snared for two runs and Ricky Ponting snared for one of the bowling of 21-year-old Praveen Kumar. Mathew Hayden and Michael Clarke were at the crease with four and nil in Australia's eight for two score.
Australia gave themselves a fair shot at forcing India to play the third final in Adelaide, by restricting the Indian batters in the final ten overs.
Not for the first time, has India relied on Tendulkar's experience to provide them with a decent scores. Till the 39th over, it looked as if the Indians would post a total closer to the 300 mark, but a flurry of wickets between the 45 and 50th overs put paid to such hopes.
Apart from Tendulkar, the others to score were Yuvraj Singh with 38, Mahendra Singh Dhoni with 36 and Robin Uthappa with 30. For the Australians, part-time spinner Michael Clarke snared three wickets, while in form pacer Nathan Bracken came up with two wickets.
The last time Australia surrendered back-to-back finals was 1983-84 and 1984-85, against West Indies, and a loss today would be a chastening blow.
Captain Ricky Ponting today admitted that India outplayed Australia in the two finals, and deserved to go home with the trophy.
"All credit goes to the Indian team and Mahendra Singh Dhoni that they outplayed us in the last week," Ponting said after the nine-run loss in the second tri-series final at the Gabba.
"There are no excuses - we lost three games in a row and two of them were finals," he said.
It is the second successive year Australia has lost in a home series final, after England's 2-0 win in 2007.
"Our level of cricket has dropped and we did the same last year," he added.
Ponting denied that the friction between Harbhajan Singh and members of his team during India's tour had affected Australia's focus.
"It's quietened down over the last week and we've played our worst cricket over the last week," he said.
After defeating the Aussie in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series at Gabba, Indian Skipper MS Dhoni said that it was one of the best tours of his life.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, he said, "It can't get better than this (winning the CB series)".
"We were playing with the two top teams of the world. So this victory is special", said an elated Dhoni.
Though there was lot of controversies about the composition of the team before the series, Dhoni believes that this is the best one-day outfit. "I had believed that this team could do well and I am happy that the team proved me right", said the captain.
Dhoni also praised Man of the Match Praveen Kumar for coming up with excellent performances with the ball in both finals.
"He is bit skiddy. He looks like bowling in 120s, but actually if you look at the speedometer you will find that he is bowling in mid-130s", Dhoni said.
Dhoni said that Kumar's main strength is his ability to swing the ball in both ways.
Sachin Tendulkar, who had an indifferent series with the bat till the first final at SCG, scored 91. Dhoni was very happy with the little master. "The way Sachin batted is really special, which is expected of him," he added.
But what made this victory a little different was that it was a real team effort. Dhoni also highlighted that aspect. "We enjoy each others success". (ANI)
