Australia overcame a century by Yuvraj Singh to defeat India by 47 runs in the third limited-overs international on Friday in the southern city of Hyderabad.
Having set a target of 291 for India, Australia bowled the home team out for 243 thanks to paceman Brett Lee (3-37) and spinner Brad Hogg (3-46). Australia went 2-0 up in the seven-match series, with the opening match abandoned.
India’s battle was mainly waged by Singh, whose 121, studded with 12 boundaries and three sixes, overshadowed a whirlwind 89 by Australia’s Andrew Symonds earlier.
Singh was beaten and bowled by paceman Mitchell Johnson’s reverse swing, snuffing out India’s chances of victory.
Singh and skipper Mahendra Dhoni (33) put on 65 runs for the fifth wicket.
That partnership came after Singh and Sachin Tendulkar (43) repaired an Indian innings that collapsed early, losing three wickets for 13 runs.
Gautam Gambhir (6) and Robin Uthappa (0) were trapped LBW by Lee and Johnson respectively with swinging deliveries.
Australia struck another major blow when Matthew Hayden took an excellent catch at slip to dismiss former skipper Rahul Dravid for a duck.
Dravid poked at a full-pitched delivery from Lee and an outside edge flew low to Hayden who kept his eyes on it as wicketkeeper Gilchrist dived across his line of vision.
Earlier, Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who was returning to the team after a hamstring injury, won the toss and chose to bat.
Hayden (60) and Michael Clarke (59) hit fluent half centuries, providing a good platform for Symonds, who plundered five fours and five sixes as he dominated Indian bowlers during his 69-ball knock.
Symonds and Clarke put on 124 runs for the fourth wicket.
Two wickets in the final over by Sree Sreesanth stopped the visitors from reaching 300 runs — a feat they achieved in the first two one-dayers. — Sapa-AP