India defeated Pakistan by three wickets in a thrilling finish on Saturday to knock their archrivals out of the four-nation Asia Cup.

Harbhajan Singh struck a six off the penultimate delivery as India clinched an exciting three-wicket victory by chasing down a victory target of 268 runs.

Gautam Gambhir and captain MS Dhoni struck half-centuries and Suresh Raina contributed with a 27-ball 34 before Harbhajan, who hit 2 sixes in his 11-ball 15, took centre stage.

Earlier, Salman Butt (74) and Kamran Akmal (51) made contrasting half centuries before India made a remarkable comeback to bowl out Pakistan for 267.

Butt was involved in two substantial partnerships at the start of the innings — first a 71-run opening stand with Imran Farhat (25) and then shared 73 runs with Shoaib Malik (39) — before three quick wickets in the middle overs put brakes on the Pakistani scoring.

Praveen Kumar (3/53), Zaheer Khan (2/41) and Harbhajan Singh (2/47) was the pick of the Indian bowlers, sharing eight wickets between them at the Rangiri International stadium.

Opting to bat in the do-or-die match, Pakistan were crusing at 144 for one in the 29th over and looked good to make a total in excess of 290 before Indian bowlers scalped three wickets in just 17 balls to storm back into the game.

The wickets slowly but assuredly tightened the noose around the Pakistan middle-order, who failed to get going on a slow and low Dambulla wicket.

Pakistan got off to a solid start with Butt and Indian Cricket League-returnee Imran Farhat posting 71 runs for the first wicket.

The openers were right on top of the Indian attack when Harbhajan produced the much-needed breakthrough, having comeback man Farhat smartly snaffled by Virender Sehwag at the first slip.

But from there on India had to wait for 13 overs for another wicket as Butt and former captain Shoaib Malik, who is returning to the national team after three months following the removal of his 12-month ban, batted with rare aplomb to set the platform for a big total.

The duo rotated the strike to upset the line of the spinners and occasionally scored a boundary to keep the score card ticking.

But just as Pakistan began to assert themselves in the middle, left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan went through Mali’s defence to give India the breakthrough.

To add to Pakistan’s dismay, Butt followed suit in the next over. He fell to a spectacular piece of fielding from Ranvindra Jadeja on his follow through.

Butt, who has scored five of his eight ODI hundreds against India, struck nine boundaries during his 85-ball stay.

As if the double blow was not enough, Umar Amin (5) was brilliantly caught by Virat Kohli off Harbhajan four overs later but inspite of that Pakistan were in a good position at 159 for four in the 33rd over.

But then Umar Akmal (21) and skipper Shahid Afridi, who asserted himself in the middle with a towering straight six off Harbhajan, steadied the Pakistani ship with a 37-run fifth-wicket stand that came off just 29 balls.

Just when it was time to step on the accelerator, Umar Akmal was caught behind by Dhoni off Ravindra Jadeja.

Afridi too perished in the 44th over, trapped in front of the wicket by Praveen but not before hitting two fours and a six.

However, a late cameo from Kamran Akmal helped Pakistan go beyond the 250-mark. The wicket-keeper batsman struck three fours and as many sixes to pile up 40 runs in the last five overs and help Pakistan reach the competitive total.

Source: Times of India

Bangladesh may have moved from the cool climes of England to hot and humid Sri Lanka, but they don’t seem to have left at customs the habit of wasting scintillating starts by the openers. They collapsed twice, from 81 for 1 to 100 for 4, and then losing their last six wickets for 12 runs. If the first setback was mostly self-inflicted, Virender Sehwag’s canny spin bowling for 4 for 6 ran through the lower order. In reply, Gautam Gambhir didn’t look a million dollars, but made a satisfactory return to the side, seeing India through to a bonus point with 82.

Sehwag’s 17-ball effort was joint second-cheapest four-wicket haul in ODIs, behind Phil Simmons’ 4 for 3 against Pakistan in 1992. Before that, though, Bangladesh displayed a few of their usual failings. Not surprisingly it all began with Mohammad Ashraful.

Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal, as they did through the England tour, got Bangladesh off to a flier. They treated Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan with contempt at the top of the innings. Cut, drive, the odd edge, and 35 were up in the third over. Tamim then got carried away and hit at one he wasn’t close enough to. Suresh Raina came up with a diving catch, but Kayes carried on the good work.

It was impressive that, though he was beaten consistently in the next two Zaheer overs, Kayes kept his head, ending a spell of 11 straight dots from Zaheer with a punched boundary. Runs slowed down, mostly because Ashraful exaggeratedly kept leaving deliveries outside off. There was not much in the pitch or the bowling, and Ashraful’s over-cautious approach hurt Bangladesh. There was not one single taken in the first 10 overs.

Kayes kept Bangladesh going with back-to-back boundaries off Nehra in the 12th over, but Ashraful was about to make his inevitable mistake. Soon after he managed one boundary, he went straight from the first gear to the fifth, heaving Nehra straight to the only man on the square-leg boundary. Kayes made his mistake in Nehra’s next over, being too slow in pulling a sharp bouncer. Shakib Al Hasan got a wicked straighter one from Harbhajan Singh, which could well have been intended to be an offbreak.

The pitch had started offering turn now, and Harbhajan and Ravindra Jadeja were tough to get away. From 100 for 4, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, both of whom survived close lbw calls, took Bangladesh to 155, when madness struck again. Jadeja finally got his reward with a flat delivery that caught Mahmudullah’s edge.

Immediately after, Sehwag was introduced. He bowled with lovely flight, slight drift, and mixed the straighter ones well. Mushfiqur bat-padded a flighted delivery that jumped at him from outside off. MS Dhoni saw that, and brought on Rohit Sharma too, who got a lucky break, with Naeem Islam given out caught-behind when it seemed the noise came from his bat hitting the ground.

In the next over Sehwag destroyed the tail. Suhrawadi Shuvo was fooled by the straighter one, Shafiul Islam swept all over an offbreak, and Syed Rasel was castled by another straighter one. Sehwag still had one ball left in what could have been a three-wicket maiden. Dhoni’s choice of ends for bowlers was good: with a wind blowing across the ground, Sehwag and Harbhajan bowled from ends where they could get drift.

India looked good for a bonus point for most parts of their reply, except for a few anxious moments when Shakib removed Virat Kohli and Rohit in two deliveries to reduce India to 80 for 3. It would have amounted to something for Bangladesh had Tamim at third man hung on to a simple offering from Gambhir, a blow that would have made it 93 for 4. It could well have been the inadequate flood lighting that Lasith Malinga spoke about at work.

That drop apart, Gambhir batted well, working hard, running hard, putting behind the occasional play-and-miss, and scoring mainly through nurdles and chips. Along with Virender Sehwag, he provided India a brisk start. India were 37 in the seventh over when Sehwag edged one outside off.

Gambhir then settled down for a hard-working innings in hot and humid conditions, and Mashrafe Mortaza and Syed Rasel did their bit in making him work hard. His most flashy shot of the innings was when he danced down the track and drove Mortaza through the covers to reach 21 off 27, taking India to 46 in the ninth over. Post the supper break, Shafiul Islam and Shakib too kept the batsmen honest.

After Shakib’s double blow in the 15th over, Gambhir nearly let Bangladesh back in when he played a weak upper-cut off Shafiul. Tamim got under it, but never looked confident during that drop. Gambhir was 48 then. By the time he finally got out, India needed just 10, with nearly 20 overs to go.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Gautam Gambhir cracked an unbeaten 57 as Delhi Daredevils spanked Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in a low-scoring IPL match to virtually seal a semifinal berth on Thursday.

Captain Gambhir led a remarkable recovery with a resolute batting display with Mithun Manhas (25 not out) after his side made a messy start in the run chase of 113 by losing their top three batsmen for just six runs in the second over.

The duo shared 75 runs from 70 balls for the unfinished fifth wicket as Delhi romped home with eight balls to spare and snap their three-match losing streak at M A Chidambaram Stadium.

Gambhir, who fought dehydration by applying water on his head and body on few occasions, struck five fours in his 56-ball innings, his second IPL 3 half century, and hit the winning runs, a two, as Delhi reached 113 for four in 18.4 overs on a pitch which offered turn to slow bowlers .

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings could make just 112 for nine after electing to bat with left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra taking three wickets for 26 to lead a superb bowling display by Delhi Daredevils.

With the win today, their seventh in 13 matches, Delhi are virtually in the semifinals with 14 points. They play Deccan Chargers at home in their last league match on April 18.

Despite the loss, Chennai are still not out of semifinal race with 12 points from 13 matches though the paltry total after batting first took down their net run rate to plus 0.270.

Pacer Dough Bollinger was the most successful bowler with two wickets for 24 runs in his four overs while Ravichandran Ashwin and Shadab Jakati got a wicket apiece.

Delhi made a disastrous start in their run chase, losing their top three wickets for just six in the second over and looked like throwing away the match before Gambhir and Manhas rescued them.

On a track which offered turn to slow bowlers, Chennai opened bowling with a spinner and Ravichandran Ashwin did not disappoint his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by removing dangerous David Warner in his third ball for a duck.

Warner tried to play a cut shot but failed to negotiate the turn Ashwin extracted and the ball spooned to cover for Murali Vijay to take a diving catch.

Virender Sehwag (4) played his characteristic style and fell the same way as he has been doing for a while in IPL III, out cheaply for four after playing a big shot early on as the thick edge off Doug Bollinger’s first ball was easy picking for Matthew Hayden at slip.

Three balls later, Tillakaratne Dilshan (1), who returned to playing eleven after being dropped due to poor form, did not last long as he tried an expansive shot off Bollinger only to see inside-edging the delivery and his furniture being disturbed.

Gambhir and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik started the repair work by sharing 32 runs from as many balls for the fourth wicket before the latter was out for a 16-ball 13 in the seventh over.

Karthik top-edged a pull shot off Jakati for S Badrinath to take a well-judged catch at midwicket to reduce Delhi to 38 for four.

The early wickets saw run rate plummeting and Delhi were 56 for four at the halfway mark. After Karthik’s dismissal Gambhir and Manhas did not have a four for five overs as they ran mostly for singles.

The duo opened up from the 16th over onwards and struck some lusty blows off Ashwin, Suresh Raina and Bollinger to ease past the target of 113 with eight balls to spare.

Manhas gave able support to Gambhir and his 32-ball 25 contained two fours.

Earlier, left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra took three wickets for 26 to lead a superb bowling display by Delhi Daredevils as they restrict Chennai Super Kings to a paltry 112 for nine.

Needing to win the match for a semifinal berth, Chennai failed to apply themselves against a disciplined Delhi bowlers as their top six batsmen were back at the hut by the halfway mark for just 55 runs after electing to bat.

S Badrinath top-scored with a 29-ball 30 while Murali Vijay (17), Suresh Raina (15) and Michael Hussey (15) got the starts but failed to convert them to big scores as Chennai slumped to their lowest IPL III total.

For Delhi, Nehra took important wickets of openers Vijay and Matthew Hayden and that of Badrinath in his four overs. Sehwag chipped in with a superb two for 18 from his four overs while Dilshan, Amit Mishra and Dirk Nannes got one each.

Source: NDTV Cricket

In stark contrast to the silence that accompanied the listless defence against Kings XI Punjab, the Eden Gardens faithful responded passionately to a charged performance from Kolkata Knight Riders, which derailed Delhi Daredevils’ chase to secure an invaluable 14-run victory. At the heart of the turnaround was Sourav Ganguly, who scored a half-century to build a challenging total, after which he fielded like few believed he could: the direct hit that ran out Gautam Gambhir ended a threatening 99-run partnership and turned the game Kolkata’s way.

The result took them level on 10 points with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the fourth-placed team.

It nearly didn’t happen for Kolkata though. Virender Sehwag, who was reprieved on 7 when the umpire failed to hear or see an edge, threatened to deliver Delhi their seventh win. His partnership with Gambhir put Delhi on course and he completed a 34-ball half-century, his slowest in the IPL. It was greeted with silence by Eden Gardens. Delhi needed 48 off 32 balls with seven wickets in hand when Ajit Agarkar’s inswinger crashed into Sehwag’s stumps, and the slide had begun.

Ajantha Mendis, chosen ahead of Shane Bond because of a dry pitch, had Kedar Jadhav caught at cover – Ganguly jumping to intercept a hard drive – in the 17th over. The next, from left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla, was pivotal. He bowled Farveez Maharoof with one that pitched middle and hit off, before reacting athletically to run out Rajat Bhatia three balls later.

The decisive blow was struck by Ashok Dinda in the penultimate over when Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata’s last threat, pulled to Brendon McCullum at midwicket. His exit left Delhi needing 30 off 10 balls, a task too hard for Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra. It was fitting that Dinda landed the last blow, for he had struck the first during an astonishing opening over. He hurried David Warner with four skiddy deliveries, cramping him for room, before beating him with the fifth – a quick one that uprooted offstump before Warner had brought his bat down. Delhi knew then that they were in for a scrap.

Unlike Ganguly, who used the pace of Dinda, Agarkar and Angelo Mathews, Gambhir instructed his bowlers – from Maharoof to Rajat Bhatia – to take the pace of the ball. It didn’t work immediately for Kolkata made their best score at the end of ten overs this season – 88 – and had all wickets intact.

Chris Gayle, who had scored 40 off 21, fell soon after though, missing a swipe against Bhatia, and Ganguly followed in similar fashion against Vettori. Brendon McCullum was run out cheaply too and Kolkata scored only 30 runs between overs 12 and 16 to reach 130 for 3.

The innings needed acceleration and it was provided by Mathews and Tiwary. Mathews had been dropped Bhatia on 10 – a caught and bowled opportunity – and he made Delhi pay with two well-aimed blows over long-on. Tiwary joined in the hitting right at the end, and they boosted the innings by taking 18 runs off Mishra’s last over. Their partnership was worth 70 in 6.5 overs, and it helped set Delhi a testing target in a match vital to Kolkata’s semi-final chances.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

In his first match as IPL captain, Gautam Gambhir followed up inspired moves in the field with an old-fashioned innings full of sensible strokeplay to save a glittering batting line-up the blushes in a straightforward chase of 143 on a flat pitch. It was thanks to disconcerting bowling from Dirk Nannes and timely big wickets for Farveez Maharoof that Delhi were chasing a paltry total, but Gambhir had to counter the regularly falling wickets and rising required rate to take his team home.

Sreesanth, who somehow nudged and edged nine runs in the final over to give himself something to bowl at, made the most of the extra few runs at Kings XI Punjab’s disposal. He swung the ball beautifully, taking out Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan in his first over, and gave away just 15 in his first spell of three overs.

While sizeable contributions from the other end didn’t arrive, Gambhir was not going to contribute to Punjab’s cause. He ran hard, hit only one shot in the air before the six in the 19th over, never let the required rate reach unmanageable proportions, and got out with only three runs required. The main feature of the innings was the cut shot: the bat face opened at just the right time, at just the right angle, playing around with the point and third-man fieldsmen.

From 10 for 2 he took Delhi to 45 for 3 with AB de Villiers for company, and to 79 for 4 with Dinesh Karthik. By the time Karthik fell, Gambhir had paced himself to 37 off 34, but 64 required off 46 was just about entering the tricky territory. In the next over, though, Gambhir took 15 runs off five Ramesh Powar deliveries to turn the game Delhi’s way. Nine of those came off shots either side of deep point.

A two-run 17th over by Yuvraj Singh gave Punjab an outside chance, with 26 required off the last three, but when Irfan Pathan dropped Mithun Manhas in the 19th over, it was all over for Punjab. That Gambhir batted through the innings meant he ran up and down the pitch 71 times. A cramping Gambhir towards the end wasn’t what Delhi would have envisaged after a commendable fielding effort.

Nannes was too quick, Maharoof too opportunistic, and Delhi’s fielders too alert for Ravi Bopara’s 48-ball 56. Regular wickets and frequent wickets punctuated Punjab’s innings. Nannes went for just 12 runs in his four overs, and Maharoof claimed the big wickets of Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh.

Bopara got support from Irfan – out of India’s preliminary squad for World Twenty20 but fit enough to start for Punjab – during a 60-run fifth-wicket partnership, but they would have always felt it not enough.

Sharp fielding, Nannes’ awkward bounce, and Maharoof’s capitalising on the pressure left the lower middle order with too much to do. Manhas started Punjab’s slide with a direct hit to remove Manvinder Bisla. Sangakkara, Punjab’s new captain, came out counterattacking, but Gambhir persisted with Maharoof despite his 18-run fourth over.

Maharoof repaid the faith by removing Sangakkara and Yuvraj in his next over, both to softish dismissals. Sangakkara flicked him straight to short fine leg, and Gambhir himself took a back-pedalling catch at mid-off to get rid of Yuvraj.

That it was the last delivery of the Powerplay could have had something to do with Yuvraj’s shot selection. Mahela Jayawardene, though, edged the first delivery after Powerplay, a straight angling delivery from Pradeep Sangwan.

Bopara and Irfan applied themselves, also enjoyed some good fortune through edged boundaries to the third man area, but another inspired move from Gambhir started the second collapse for Punjab. Tillakaratne Dilshan was given the ball in the 14th over, and Irfan – responsible until then – jumped out of the crease and missed a straight delivery.

Mohammad Kaif was stumped to a wide flighted delivery from Amit Mishra, and Bopara hit a low full toss straight to deep square leg. At 113 for 7 in the 16th over, Nannes and Maharoof versus the tail was always going to be an unfair contest.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo.

Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra took three wickets each as India bowled Sri Lanka out for a paltry 213 in the fifth One-Day International of the tri-nation series at Shere Bangla National Stadium here Sunday.

Sri Lanka elected to bat but lost wickets at a regular interval and folded up in 46.1 overs.

At one time. they were struggling at 84 for six before skipper Kumar Sangakkara (68) and Suraj Randiv (56) bailed the team out with a 59-run stand.

Randiv and Thilan Thushara (28) then took the total past 200, adding another 59 runs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a few changes in the team, resting some of the frontline players. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra made way for Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra and Sudeep Tyagi.

The bowling was a problem for the Indian captain earlier on in the series, but Sunday’s performance was a welcome change for the team.

Mishra, who had fallen out of favour after the drubbing he got in the Ahmedabad Test, made the most of the opportnuity with an impressive figure 3-40.

India got off to a good start with Tyagi dismissing Upul Tharanga off the fourth ball of the innings as he was caught by Dinesh Karthik at first slip.

Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a quicfire 33 off 17 balls with the help of eight fours before Zaheer removed him.

The left-hand seamer struck again, dismissing Mahela Jayawardene in the 10th over.

S. Sreesanth got rid of Thilan Samaraweera, trapping him leg before while Thilina Kandamby was run out.

Mishra took his first wicket when he had Thissara Perera (11) caught by Yuvraj Singh at deep mid-wicket.

Sangakkara and Randiv then started the repair job. The captain hit nine fours in his 78-ball 68 before giving his wicket to Yuvraj.

Randiv played patiently for his half century. He struck five fours in his 76-ball innings before Mishra rattled his stumps.

Source: YahooNews

Brilliant tons from Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli helped India register a comfortable seven-wicket victory and clinch the series 3-1 against Sri Lanka.

India lost their first wicket in the form of Virender Sehwag early, chasing a massive target of 316.

India seemed to be in real trouble when they lost their second wicket in master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

However, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli managed to steady the boat after the early jitters.

Both Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli completed their centuries to put India on top against Sri Lanka.

When Virat Kohli departed, India were in total command and it was just a matter of time before they achieved the target with 11 balls to spare.

Upul Tharanga hit a superb century to help Sri Lanka post a challenging total in the fourth one-day international against India in Kolkata.

Tharanga anchored the Sri Lankan innings with a nicely-paced 118, while Kumar Sangakkara made a fine 60 as the visitors reached an imposing 315 for six in a match they must win to keep their hopes of victory alive in the five-game series.

India began well, conceding a measly nine from five immaculate overs sent down by new-ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, their efforts backed up by a solid performance in the field.

But Tillakaratne Dilshan broke the shackles by driving Nehra through the covers in the sixth over for the first boundary and from then on India gradually lost control.

Nehra, who had dropped Tharanga on seven when he failed to hold on to a fairly straightforward return catch, went some way to atoning for that error by snaring Dilshan early, Virat Kohli completing the dismissal with a smart catch at long leg.

Sanath Jayasuriya, batting at three, started with a boundary to fine leg before also departing cheaply, edging Zaheer to Tendulkar at slip.

But then Sangakkara, who was handed reprieve before he was even off the mark when Harbhajan Singh squandered a simple chance at third man, and Tharanga built a solid base.

Tharanga, who had upped the tempo by hitting Ishant Sharma for five boundaries in the paceman’s first over, continued to bat steadily alongside his captain.

The pair scored easily off the spinners and struck timely boundaries as they added 126 for the third wicket, Tharanga reaching his seventh ODI century in the process.

Sangakkara too reached his half-century, but the partnership was ended when the Sri Lanka captain was smartly stumped by Dinesh Karthik as he got too far out and across while attempting to help a Harbhajan delivery down to fine leg.

Tharanga’s stay was ended by Zaheer soon after, but Sri Lanka’s middle-order kicked on.

Debutant Thissara Perera, who replaced Angelo Mathews in the squad and who made the final eleven only because of an injury to Chanaka Welegedara during practice just before the start, chipped in with a 14-ball 31, while cameos from Mahela Jayawardene (33) and Thilina Kandamby (23 not out from 15) helped Sri Lanka to a strong total.

Four deliveries remained in Sri Lanka’s innings when play was stopped after one of the light towers failed, but Sri Lanka added eight more to their total when play resumed to finish on a high.

Teams:

India: V Sehwag*, SR Tendulkar, G Gambhir, V Kohli, SK Raina, KD Karthik†, RA Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, A Nehra, I Sharma.

Sri Lanka: WU Tharanga, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara*†, DPMD Jayawardene, SHT Kandamby, CK Kapugedera, S Randiv, KMDN Kulasekara, BAW Mendis, SL Malinga, NLTC Perera.

Source: ESPN Cricket

A quickfire century by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni set up India’s 99-run victory over Australia on Wednesday as the home team levelled the one-day series 1-1.

Man of the match Dhoni hit 124 off 107 balls, putting on 119 for the fourth wicket with Gautam Gambhir (76) and 136 for the next with Suresh Raina (62) to propel India to 354 for seven after they lost the toss in the day-night game.

After India compiled their highest one-day total against Australia, paceman Praveen Kumar took two early wickets including skipper Ricky Ponting for 12, to help Dhoni’s team bowl out the visitors for 255 in 48.3 overs.

Michael Hussey (53) recorded his second consecutive half-century for Australia but young left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took three for 35 to trigger a middle-order collapse and fast bowler Ishant Sharma claimed two for 37.

“We lost Sachin Tendulkar early but Virender Sehwag (40) and Gambhir gave us the start we needed,” said Dhoni referring to a second-wicket partnership of 46.

“They set the platform for me and I was able to play my own innings,” he said at the prize-giving ceremony.
Gambhir struck his second consecutive half-century as he and Dhoni turned the heat on an Australia attack weakened by the absence of injured pair Brett Lee and James Hopes.

Direct Hit

Gambhir was run out by a direct hit at the non-striker’s end after being sent back by Dhoni but the skipper and Raina tore into the bowling, smashing 108 runs in the final 10 overs.

Dhoni cracked nine fours and three sixes and reached his fifth one-day international century with a straight six off medium-pacer Shane Watson before falling in the final over to Mitchell Johnson (3-75).

Kumar then clean bowled Australia opener Tim Paine for eight before Sharma forced Watson (19) to edge to Tendulkar at slip with his first delivery.

Ponting was trapped lbw in the 11th over before Hussey forged useful partnerships with Cameron White (23) and Adam Voges (36).

Jadeja, though, dismissed Hussey, Shaun Marsh (21) and Voges to end Australia’s chances.

“Full credit to India, they outplayed us in every aspect of the game tonight,” said Ponting. “It was always going to be a hard run-chase.”

The third game of the seven-match series will be in New Delhi on Saturday.

Gautam Gambhir’s prolific run of form since the start of 2008 has earned him a national honour from the President of India, Pratibha Patil. Gambhir on Saturday became the 41st cricketer to be felicitated with the Arjuna Award, instituted in 1961 by the Indian government to recognise outstanding achievement in national sport.

Since the start of last year, Gambhir has averaged 75.19 in Tests with five centuries – he has scored six in all since his debut in November 2004 – and seven fifties. Two of those hundreds came against Australia in the home series towards the end of 2008, which India won 2-0. He followed that up with two centuries in India’s 1-0 Test series win in New Zealand and played a critical role in drawing the second Test in Napier after India followed on. In 41 ODIs during the same time span, Gambhir averaged 44.31, scoring four centuries and nine fifties.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag are among the other cricketers to have received this honour. Gambhir is the first cricketer to receive this award in three years; Anjum Chopra, the Indian batsman, who represents the women’s team was the last recipient of this honour.

Star India opener Gautam Gambhir today became the number one Test batsman again after Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Clarke slipped down the rankings ladder because of their none-too-impressive form in the recent matches. Gambhir, who was ranked third before the chart was updated, moved up two rungs after Sangakkara, who was leading the chart, failed to fire in the first Test against New Zealand at Galle.

Clarke could have benefitted from Sangakkara’s loss but the Australian vice-captain’s disappointing showing in the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval has opened the door for Gambhir, who returned to the number one spot. Sangakkara, who had been top prior to the Galle Test, scored eight and 46 in the match, which was not enough to keep him at the top.

Clarke could only manage a total of three runs in the Oval Test, a disappointing return for him and one that drops him three places to fifth in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. Gambhir became the top ranked batsman in July this year.

For Ashes winning England side, off-spinner Graeme Swann has jumped 17 places and into the top 10 in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers for the first time in his career. The 30-year-old took eight wickets in the match underlying his position as England’s top slow bowler and moving to 10th in the latest rankings.

Another England bowler to make an upward move is man of the match Stuart Broad, whose inspired five-wicket haul in the first innings set up the victory for the home team as Australia collapsed to 160 all out.

Broad gains 11 places to 13th spot in the rankings, level with Australia’s fast bowler Peter Siddle, who moves up four places after another consistent performance from the 24-year-old Victorian.

The bowling list is still headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn with Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka second and Australia’s Mitchell Johnson hanging on to third.

Harbhajan Singh (5th) and Zaheer Khan (8th) are the two Indian bowlers in the top 10 chart.

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has moved up two places to seventh in the batting list following his first-innings century against New Zealand.

Australia’s Ricky Ponting may have scored a battling half-century in the second innings but his overall match contribution did not save him from losing two places as he slips to ninth in the rankings.

Victorious captain Andrew Strauss was the stand-out England batsman of the series and his two half-centuries at the Oval were enough to move him up three spots to 12th position, level with South Africa’s AB de Villiers.