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Another finals humiliation for India

09/02/2004 05:20:59 AM Comments (0)

It was the World Cup final all over again - only this time the humiliation was far greater for India.

Australia continued its one-day dominance over India by wrapping up the best-of-three tri-series finals 2-0, winning by 208 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The match ended on a controversial note, with Indian captain Sourav Ganguly complaining to counterpart Ricky Ponting about a verbal taunt delivered to him by an Australian player.

Neither player was willing to comment on what was said but the Indians will go home on a sour note, most of which is their own making as they once again failed to match Australia when it mattered most.

Australia dealt India a severe psychological blow by setting the tourists 360 to win - the same daunting target they failed to reach in the World Cup final at Johannesburg last year.

India put up some sort of fight in the World Cup, losing by 125 runs, but this time the victory was one of the most lopsided in the annals of the game - Australia's margin being the eighth biggest in one-day history.

Australia made 5-359, matching its best one-day score of 2-359 set in that World Cup final, and it's no coincidence that three of Australia's best five scores in one-day history have now come against India in the past year.

While India matched Australia in the Test arena this summer, drawing the series 1-1, the tourists continue to lag well behind the world champions in the one-day arena - especially in the psychology of the game where the Indians appear to freeze on the big stage.

"It would have been in the back of their minds about big games against Australia and I think that's been proven in the past couple of games," Ponting said.

Australia won five of the six matches against India in the tri-series this summer and under Ponting, Australia has beaten India in 11 of 13 matches over the past year.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

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