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India clinch six-wicket win in first tri-series finals match

02/03/2008

India have beaten Australia by six wickets in the first match of the tri-series finals at the SCG.

Australia batted first and set India a target of 240 for victory after a fine half-century from Matthew Hayden.

However Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 117 helped India to victory with more than four overs to spare.

The Australians looked shaky during their innings and were rescued by Hayden, who hit 82 from 84 balls and also shared a partnership of 100 runs with Andrew Symonds who scored 31.

Some late big hitting from Brett Lee also boosted the Aussie score and set the India side a decent target.

Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh were the pick of the Indian bowlers, both taking two wickets.

India blew Australia away with a typically stylish century from Sachin Tendulkar, the batting legend hit 117 from 120 balls and shared a fourth wicket stand of 123 runs with Rohit Sharma, who scored 66.

Tendulkar scored his 42nd one day international century after hitting ten boundaries.

Australia's pacy attack failed to make an impact on the Indian batsmen, with Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson all failing to take a wicket. James Hopes recorded the most impressive bowling figures for the hosts with two for 42.