By IANS
Chandigarh : Sachin Tendulkar (79) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out) helped India beat Australia by eight runs in a well-contested fourth One-day International here Monday.
With this win, confirmed only off the last ball of the match, India reduced Australia’s lead to 1-2 in the seven-match series.
Tendulkar, Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly (41, 59 balls, 6x4s) and local boy Yuvraj Singh (39, 55 balls, 5x4s) helped India to 291 for four wickets in 50 overs after India won the toss.
Australia conceded a whopping 39 ‘extras’, including 31 wides, while pacer James Hopes took two wickets at the Sector 16 Stadium, a venue where the previous international match was played 14 years ago.
In reply, Australia scored 283 for seven wickets in 50 overs. Their top scorer was Matthew Hayden, who scored a fine 92 (92 balls, 11x4s, 2x6s).
Rudra Pratap Singh and Harbhajan Singh took two wickets apiece.
Scoreboard
Fourth ODI, India vs. Australia, Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh
India:
Sourav Ganguly c Gilchrist b Hopes 41
Sachin Tendulkar run out (Lee) 79
Yuvraj Singh c Ponting b Hopes 39
Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 50
Rahul Dravid b Bracken 13
Robin Uthappa not out 30
Extras: (byes 1, leg byes 7, wides 31) 39
Total: (for four wickets in 50 overs) 291
Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Ganguly, 19.6 overs), 2-174 (Yuvraj, 35.6), 3-221 (Tendulkar, 41.5), 4-244 (Dravid, 45.5)
Bowling:
Brett Lee 7 1 26 0 (3w)
Nathan Bracken 10 0 78 1 (4w)
Mitchell Johnson 8 0 51 0 (3w)
James Hopes 9 0 43 2 (1w)
Andrew Symonds 7 0 39 0 (3w)
Brad Hogg 9 0 46 0
Australia:
Adam Gilchrist c Zaheer b R.P. Singh 18
Matthew Hayden c Zaheer b Kartik 92
Ricky Ponting st Dhoni b Pathan 29
Michael Clarke c & b Harbhajan 6
Andrew Symonds b R.P. Singh 75
Brad Hodge st Dhoni b Harbhajan 17
James Hopes not out 23
Brad Hogg run out (R.P. Singh) 0
Brett Lee not out 5
Extras: (lb 5, w 13) 18
Total: (for seven wickets in 50 overs) 283
Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Gilchrist, 5.1 overs), 2-122 (Ponting, 18.2), 3-132 (Clarke, 21.4), 4-190 (Hayden, 33.5), 5-246 (Hodge, 43.2), 6-268 (Symonds, 46.5), 7-268 (Hogg, 46.6)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 9 0 68 0 (2w)
Rudra Pratap Singh 10 1 66 2 (9w)
Ifran Pathan 10 0 46 1 (1w)
Sourav Ganguly 1 0 7 0
Harbhajan Singh 10 0 43 2 (1w)
Murali Kartik 10 0 48 1
Result: India won by eight runs
Series: Australia lead 2-1
Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Suresh Shastri (India)
TV umpire: G.A. Pratapkumar (India)
Match referee: Chris Broad (England)