India stuns Aussies to seal series

BRISBANE: India created history by notching up their first-ever cricket tri-series title on Australian soil by piping the world champions by nine runs in a nail-biting second finals which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.

After scoring a competitive 258 for nine largely built around Sachin Tendulkar’s majestic 91, the Indians held their nerves in the tense dying moments to stop the Australians at 249 with two balls to spare and wrap up the best-of-three finals with a 2-0 margin.

It was a remarkable display by the Indians who not only conquered the mighty Australians in their own den but brought about a happy ending to a turbulent tour, marked by a racism row involving Harbhajan Singh and a series of on-field bickering.

Instead of a fitting one-day farewell for retiring wicketkeeper Gilchrist, it was controversial spinner Harbhajan who laughed last and loudest, lapping up the triumph on the Gabba boundary in front of ecstatic expat fans.

Left-armer Nathan Bracken gained some consolation when he was named the player of the tri-series for his efforts in taking 21 wickets at 16.

Gilchrist thanked more than 50 family members who had travelled to the Gabba for his farewell match.

“It’s just been a magic ride,’’ he said. “It hasn’t been the fairytale finish tonight but it’s been a fairytale career.’’

Spinner Brad Hogg was made 12th man in his own swansong but harbored no ill feeling.

“I would be 12th man any time for these boys, it’s a privilege to play for Australia,’’ Hogg said during the presentation ceremony. “To live my dream and make a living out of it has been fantastic.’’

The Indians had entered the tri-series finals in 1986, 1992 and 2004 but had never managed to win a single match but made amends for their past failures with the thrilling win at the Gabba.

Paceman Irfan Pathan dismissed James Hopes in the very last over to bring India’s moment of glory, triggering scenes of wild celebrations among the players as they hugged each other.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said Australia may have to re-think their approach to future one-day tournaments after finishing the tri-series with three straight losses.

“We haven’t played as well in the last week as in the lead-up games and we did the same thing last year (against England in the 2006-2007 tri-series),’’ he said.

“That’s disappointing. We might have to look at the way we go about things at the start of a tournament and through the middle, to see if we can save a bit of momentum up for the end.

“We certainly stumbled at the last hurdle again.’’

However, Ponting conceded India had “outplayed’’ Australia in the tri-series finals.

“India dominated us over the last couple of games and congratulations to them. They outplayed us in the finals - they deserve the trophy,’’ he said.

India’s title win justified the controversial omission of veterans Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman for the tri-series tournament.

“It’s very important because I believe this is a building stage of my team because of our youngsters and that we left off a lot of older players,’’ said Dhoni. [Agencies]

Scores: India 258-9 (50) (R Utappa 30, S Tendulkar 91, Y Singh 38, MS Dhoni 36, N Bracken 3/31, S Clark 3/52)

Australia 249 (49.4) (M Hayden 55, A Symonds 42, M Hussey 44, J Hopes 63, P Kumar 4/46, S Sreesanth 2/43, I Pathan 2/54)

Man of the match: Praveen Kumar (IND)

Man of the series: Nathan Bracken (AUS)