BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2001 | India v Australia

One-day international, Goa: Australia
269-6 (48 overs) beat India 265-6 (50 overs) by 4 wickets

Australia win one-day series 3-2

Michael Bevan showed why he is rated the world's best one-day batsman with a nerveless 87 not out to see Australia to victory in the deciding match of the best-of-five series.

The left-hander made his 35th half century in a limited overs international as the tourists gained some consolation for their 2-1 defeat in the Tests.

Vangipurappu Laxman had earlier made his maiden one-day century for India after crowd disturbances outside the Nehru Stadium had overshadowed the start of the match.

Set 266 to win, Adam Gilchrist gave Australia a flying start with 76 off only 60 balls before Bevan and Ian Harvey saw them home with two overs to spare.

Overcrowding

Police used batons to charge spectators outside the stadium before the start of play as the sale of fake tickets caused a potential overcrowding problem.

The ground has a capacity of only 28,000 and there were still long queues outside when Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first.

Vangipurappu Laxman acknowledges applause for his hundred
Laxman reaches three figures for India

India had only 16 on the board when Sachin Tendulkar, the only man to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, was caught off left-armer Nathan Bracken for 12.

But Ganguly looked more like his old self after a run of poor form and boundaries off Glenn McGrath and Harvey were followed by a six over long on from the bowling of leg-spinner Shane Warne.

He reached his 50 off 69 balls, with Laxman content to rotate the strike and pick up ones and twos, as they put on 105 in 21 overs.

McGrath finally ended Ganguly's innings when he had made 74, as the left-hander fended a short delivery to Ricky Ponting at point, but TV replays suggested it may have been above shoulder height and should have been called a no ball.

The onus was then on Laxman to maintain the scoring rate and he played some glorious shots in a stand of 97 with Rahul Dravid.

Aussie strokeplay

The latter was caught off Andrew Symonds for 31 but Laxman, who made 281 in the second Test at Calcutta, went on to reach three figures before being caught behind off Harvey.

India could only muster 35 off the final seven overs and their bowlers came under attack at the start of Australia's innings as Matthew Hayden and Gilchrist set off at a cracking pace.

Adam Gilchrist hits out
Gilchrist used his feet to attack the bowling

They had 70 on the board in 10 overs before Hayden was dismissed by Javagal Srinath for 36, which included a six and five fours.

The fast bowler made short work of Ricky Ponting but Gilchrist found an able ally in Bevan, who came into the match averaging 56.46 in one-day cricket.

Bevan worked the ball into the gaps and ran superbly between the wickets, while Gilchrist continued to go for his shots.

He hit a six and 10 fours before being bowled of the inside edge by Tendulkar in the 25th over with the score on 142.

Tendulkar also dismissed Steve Waugh (17) and Darren Lehmann to finish with three for 35 form his 10 overs and Srinath then claimed his third victim by having Symonds caught for seven.

Australia required 64 off the final 11 overs but Bevan and Harvey made light of their task with an unbroken partnership of 67.

Bevan's 50 arrived off 79 balls with only two boundaries, but he added three more and a six in the closing overs.

Harvey was equally aggressive in making 25 not out off 26 balls but it was Bevan who square cut Zaheer Khan for the winning boundary as Australia, the reigning World Cup holders, rounded off their tour with a win.

Teams:

India: S Ganguly (capt), S Tendulkar, V Laxman, R Dravid, H Badani, Yuvraj Singh, V Dahiya, A Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, J Srinath.
Australia: M Hayden, A Gilchrist, R Ponting, M Bevan, S Waugh (capt), D Lehmann, A Symonds, I Harvey, S Warne, G McGrath, N Bracken.