The Sydney story is now a finished book. For all that bitterness it evoked in the introductory pages, the end has been sweet and happy for Team India.
Sachin Tendulkar came up with his 42nd ODI hundred, his first in Australia, powering India to a six-wicket win to go up 1-0 in the three-match final. Earlier, Harbhajan Singh, whose spats with Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden raised temperatures throughout the series, scalped both. And when India chased, it was perfect, a comprehensive victory which saw Brett Lee going wicketless for the first time. What's more, there was no chit-chat this time.
One up and needing only one more win from the remaining two matches, it was celebration time in the Indian dressing room where there were impromptu jigs, music and bear hugs. In 36 hours, India will get another crack at the Australians. The team wants to finish it in Brisbane and head home without needing to play a third match.
Sydney belonged to Tendulkar today. His unbeaten 117 - he was later named man of the match - came at a time when his team needed it most, when he needed it to silence his critics. The 10 boundaries he hit were precisely placed and there was a dash of youthful innovation, despite a groin strain and cramps during the 220-minute stay at the crease.
With Rohit Sharma, Tendulkar stitched a 123-run partnership after a bit of a wobble at 87/3, chasing Australia's 239 under lights. It was a compelling partnership between two batting generations who together took India to heights where the space between India and Australia is now marginal. Rohit was equal to the repair job, hitting a calm 66 from 87 balls that started with two sparkling straight drives off Nathan Bracken.
Tendulkar was unrelenting in his assault against Mitchell Johnson, playing the upper cut to perfection, and tactically phasing out Brett Lee with a dead bat. All along, he kept the required run rate under five an over.
Rohit was out soon after Tendulkar scored his century, but India were almost through by that time. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni only hastened the victory, hitting three boundaries, including the winning runs, in his unbeaten 15.
Dhoni opted for two spinners in the five-man bowling attack, bravely bringing on Piyush Chawla for whom it was the first appearance in the tournament and that too in a critical match. The ploy worked: Chawla, along with Harbhajan Singh and part-timer Yuvraj Singh, brought the Australian middle-order to a halt after Symonds and Hayden put on 100 runs for the fourth wicket.
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