Batting first after winning the toss Australia managed to rattle up a competitive 166 for 5 thanks to Ricky Ponting's 76. However the score was far below what was expected from the explosive bats of the Aussies. Credit must surely go to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who handled his bowlers in tremendous fashion.

Harbhajan Singh was impressive conceding only 17 runs in his four overs, while Twenty20 debutant Murali Kartik also impressed by giving away 27 runs in his four overs. Irfan Pathan picked up two wickets. India never allowed the Australian batting to take off and that proved critical ion the final analysis. True there were big overs, but they were always isolated rather than being continuous.

At the start of the Indian reply, it was pretty clear Gautam Gambhir was in fine nick. Although India lost birthday boy Virender Sehwag early on, Gambhir continued to play in the same vein, which helped India clinch the T20 final against Pakistan last month.

He rattled up 63 on a pitch was batsman-friendly. His partnership with Robon Uthappa, who made 35, was the one which took India within touching distance of victory. The 82-run partnership between the pair calmed nerves in the dugout and allowed Yuvraj Singh to flourish later on.

Yuvraj clattered three sixes in his breezy knock of 31 and took India to a deserving win.

Ricky Ponting admitted the Aussie batting was a disappointment, "We fell short by 15 runs. We gave away too many extras - 23 extras means four extra overs. We did it the other night also and we need to buck up," he said.

His counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the win proved that India's Twenty20 win was not a fluke, "Everyone responded well to responsibilities given to them and that is why we won," he beamed.

Man of the Event Gautam Gambir received a neat little car courtesy Maruti-Suzuki and a proud Indian team climbed onto the vehicle as they basked in adulation all-round.

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