Mumbai, Nov 01: Damien Martyn led the Australian batting onslaught with a rollicking century as the world champions posted a challenging 286 for eight in their allotted 50 overs in the day-night triangular cricket series match against India here today.
Electing to bat, the determined Australians turned on the heat from the very first over against the hosts and later Martyn (100) gave ample proof of his batting skills to steer his team to a commanding total.
The dashing Adam Gilchrist (41), Andrew Symonds (48), Ricky Ponting (31) and Michael Bevan (42) -- were the other notable contributors for the Aussies who capitalised on some wayward bowling by the Indians, who now have to score at a stiff 5.8 runs per over for recording their second successive win over the world champions in a week.
The Indians, who had defeated the Australians by 37 runs in Gwalior, never really looked like containing the kangaroos after Gilchrist's early blitzkrieg provided the perfect launching pad for the assault at the fully-packed Wankhede Stadium.
The visitors could have put up a few more runs on the board but for a dramatic last over by Ajit Agarkar (4/37) which saw four wickets falling, including that of centurion Martyn.
The Australians lost in-form opener Mathew Hayden for a first-ball duck in Zaheer Khan's erratic first over which saw as many as four wides as the left-arm seamer struggled to control the swing.
The lanky Hayden was taken by surprise by a rising delivery and offered a simple catch to Yuvraj Singh at point, much to the jubilation of the home team.
But the early dismissal of Hayden did not deter the world champions from unleashing an array of strokes with the hard-hitting Adam Gilchrist being particularly severe on Zaheer who looked totally off-colour in his first spell.
Gilchrist virtually tore the bowling to shreds in the company of his captain Ricky Ponting as the visitors raced to the 50-mark in just five overs to push the home team on the backfoot.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was introduced into the attack early on a track which gave some assistance to the slow bowlers, evicted the dangerous Gilchrist just when he was threatening to break loose.
The left-handed opener attempted to cut the ball but failed to time the shot properly and Mohammad Kaif latched on to a brilliant catch in the cover region. Gilchrist slammed eight boundaries during his 30-ball 41.
Ponting, who began quite cautiously, also returned to the pavilion soon after, falling prey to Ajit Agarkar in his very first over as the Aussies slipped to 94 for three.
Agarkar, who was brought into the attack in the 14th over, trapped Ponting (31 off 31 balls) leg before wicket with a ball that came in sharply.
Despite the loss of three wickets, the two new batsmen Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds maintained a brisk scoring rate and were prompt to despatch the loose deliveries to the boundary.
The fourth wicket pair stitched 78 runs before Yuvraj provided the breakthrough by getting rid of the belligerent Symonds for a 59-ball 48 which contained four boundaries and a six. Bureau Report