Australia win despite Yuvraj ton

Australia win despite Yuvraj ton

THIRD ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL, HYDERABAD:
Australia 290-7 (50 overs) bt India 243 (47.4 overs) by 47 runs

Hogg and Johnson claimed vital wickets for Australia

A magnificent 121 from Yuvraj Singh could not prevent Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the series with a 47-run victory over India in Hyderabad.

After three wickets fell in the first five overs, Yuvraj smashed 12 fours and three sixes before he was eighth out.

India were eventually dismissed for 242 in the 48th over in reply to a score of 290-7 by the tourists.

Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke shared 123 in 16 overs, Symonds hitting five sixes in a superb 89 off 67 balls.

Following the no result in the opening match and Australia's crushing win in the second, India recalled Rohit Sharma for Ramesh Powar and the tourists welcomed back skipper Ricky Ponting, with Brad Haddin left out.

Matthew Hayden struck successive boundaries in Zaheer Khan's opening over and hit two more in an over from Sree Santh as 61 came from the first 10 overs.

Symonds was a danger to the crowd with his big hitting

But the scoring slowed after Adam Gilchrist (29) was deceived by a slower ball from Irfan Pathan and was through his swipe across the line by the time the ball reached him and uprooted the middle stump.

Hayden departed for 60 when he toe-ended a catch through to the keeper when he tried to heave one through point and lost his balance, and the Indian spinners then imposed a stranglehold on the scoring rate.

Sachin Tendulkar was introduced and dropped short to allow Ponting to pull the first boundary for 10 overs but the captain was soon on his way back to the pavilion for 25 when he tried to hit over the top and was well caught by Santh on the run.

Ponting made way for Symonds, who proceeded to wrestle back the initiative, pulling Pathan into the crowd in the 39th over - a shot that struck a lady spectator in the packed gallery - and brought up the century stand with Clarke with successive maximums.

Even respectable length deliveries did not escape punishment as Symonds flayed a near yorker from Pathan low over long-off for six more in the penultimate over.

There was still time for some final-over shenanigans from Santh, who totally bamboozled Brad Hodge with a slower ball, only to spill the top edge and concede an overthrow.

But another slower ball leg-break accounted for Symonds, who had survived a difficult return catch to Harbhajan when on 46, although the burly all-rounder's contribution left India with much to do.

That task was intensified by a dreadful start, which began when Gautam Gambhir was trapped leg-before by some Brett Lee swing in the third over.

Six balls later Robin Uthappa was also plumb lbw and Rahul Dravid was then caught millimetres from the turf at slip off Lee, Hayden holding the catch despite the distraction of Gilchrist diving in front of him.

Given that start, Tendulkar and Yuvraj had to keep risks to a minimum and ensure they remained at the crease.

Yuvraj matched Symonds with some remarkable strokes for six

Tendulkar brought up the 50 from the final ball of the 15th over with a deft pre-meditated sweep off the metronomic James Hopes but Yuvraj was unusually becalmed early on, clearly hampered by an illness.

But the stylish left-hander soon found his touch and reached fifty from 61 balls by pulling a chinaman from Brad Hogg into the stands at mid-wicket for the first six of the innings.

Hogg dismissed Tendulkar for 43 shortly afterwards, however, when the maestro backed away and was bowled by one that skidded on.

Lee returned to silence the crowd as Mahendra Dhoni, after four fours in his 33, edged off the back foot, leaving 118 to score from the final 84 balls.

Yuvraj lost two more partners and the equation became 103 from the final 10 overs with only three wickets intact.

But Yuvraj reached his eighth one-day century from 104 balls and quickly brought up the 200 with a front front sweep into the second tier at mid-wicket off paceman Mitchell Johnson.

He backed away to drive 10 from the opening two balls of a Stuart Clark over before finally losing his middle stump to Johnson 72 runs short of victory.

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Man-of-the-match Andrew Symonds:
"I was pretty lucky I had a platform and time to get in. It was a bit low and hard to get underneath the ball but we knew 290-300 would be a competitive score."

India skipper Mahendra Dhoni: "Every match is tough against Australia. We'll try to do the thing you need to do to win."

Indian selectors dropped off-spinner Ramesh Powar and recalled left-arm spinner Murali Kartik on Friday for the fourth and fifth matches of the series.