Yuvi's ton goes in vain as India lose by 47 runs

HYDERABAD: Yuvraj Singh hammered a superb century but failed to stop Australia from posting a 47-run win over India in the third one-day international here on Friday.   

The stylish left-hander scored a 115-ball 121 for his eighth hundred as India were bowled out for 243 chasing a 291-run target to concede a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series. The opening match was abandoned due to rain.   

Both the sides will now move to Chandigarh for the fourth match of the series.
    
Chasing 291, India lost their top three batsmen inside five overs, with the score reading merely 13.
    
Brett Lee trapped Gautam Gambhir (6) with a fuller one in the third over and Robin Uthappa perished the same way in the next over, without bothering the scorer and awarding Mitchell Johnson his first wicket.
    
Crisis compounded in the fifth over when Rahul Dravid, rather uncharacteristically, poked at a Lee delivery to perish caught behind, leaving India in dire straits.
    
Yuvraj and Tendulkar played with caution and raised the hope of a comeback but Brad Hogg had other ideas. Hogg once again proved a handful for the Indians and he silenced the stadium in the 25th over when Tendulkar went for a cut and missed the line to see the ball clip his off-stump.
    
Captain Dhoni was not allowed any lee way for his free-flowing strokeplay and he was content nudging and pushing his way, while helping himself to the occasional boundaries.
  
Ricky Ponting brought back Lee to break the stand and the pacer did not disappoint as he induced an edge to see Dhoni back. In the next over, Lee took a running catch to remove Rohit Sharma (1) off James Hopes.
    
Yuvraj, however, refused to be bogged down by the series of setbacks as he brought his 50 in 61 balls and he eventually completed his century in 104 balls that had 11 fours and a six in it.
    
Hogg, meanwhile, removed Irfan Pathan (3) and then Johnson struck the deadly blow in the 44th over to snuff the life out of India's fightback.
    
Running out of partners, Yuvraj tried to work it on the on-side as the Johnson delivery upset his timberworks. It was a scintillating knock from the dashing batsman who hit 12 fours and three sixes on his way to 121.
    
Earlier, the Indian bowlers managed to keep the Australian total under 300, picking up four wickets in the last five overs.
    
S Sreesanth took the prized wicket of Symonds by having him caught on the penultimate ball and then removed James Hopes on the last ball of the innings.
    
Australia got off to a flying start, cruising to 76 when Irfan Pathan gave India its first breakthrough by removing Adam Gilchrist (29).
    
Hayden was in punishing mood again even though comeback man Ricky Ponting was subdued and needed 43 balls for his 25.
    
Pathan had his second victim in Hayden who returned caught behind and the exit of the towering Aussie considerably slowed down the Australian run rate.
    
Yuvraj then had Ponting caught by Sreesanth and Zaheer later scalped Brad Hodge (3) but Symonds and Clarke treated the Indian bowlers with disdain and scored at a brisk pace.
    
Symonds followed his second-match 87 with yet another blazing knock, hitting five sixes and as many fours. He punished Yuvraj in the closing stages, hitting two sixes and a four off successive balls.
    
The Indian fielding was once again sloppy as Zaheer fumbled while trying to run out Hayden, while Sreesanth dropped a high return catch off James Hopes in the last over before removing him and Symonds off successive balls. 

India's hopes receded sharply with the dismissal of Dhoni, who shared a brisk 65-run stand for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj. They were virtually out of the match at that stage as the asking rate kept climbing.   

Australia displayed their batting prowess after winning the toss, with man-of-the-match Andrew Symonds (89), Matthew Hayden (60) and Michael Clarke (59) dominating the Indian attack with rich strokeplay.   

"Things worked beautifully for us. Our batting was very good and we struck the ball from the word 'go' to reach up to a good total," said Australian captain Ricky Ponting.   

"Our openers were terrific and set the platform for the later batsmen. Things are coming together for us, but there's still scope for improvement."   

Lee grabbed two early wickets and Mitchell Johnson one to reduce India to 13-3 in the opening five overs before Yuvraj steadied the innings with a commendable knock under pressure.   

Lee struck in his second over when he trapped Gautam Gambhir leg-before and then had Rahul Dravid caught by Hayden, who latched on to a low catch despite wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist diving in front of the first slip.   

Australia then ran into Yuvraj, who outscored even the world's leading run-getter Sachin Tendulkar in a 95-run stand for the fourth wicket. Tendulkar faced 71 balls for his 43 before being bowled by spinner Brad Hogg.   

Yuvraj, 25, reached his half-century with a pulled six off Hogg (3-46) before being the eighth man out, bowled by Johnson in the 44th over. He cracked three sixes and 12 fours.   

"It was a 300-plus wicket, so I thought our bowlers did a good job. We needed partnerships, but they bowled very well. They took early wickets and that put pressure on our middle order," said Dhoni.   

"We now need to ignore the past and try to do things that need to be done to win a match."   

Symonds earlier followed his second-match 87 with yet another blazing knock, hitting five sixes and as many fours in his 67-ball knock. He once severely punished spinner Yuvraj, hitting two sixes and a four off successive balls.   

Ponting (25), returning to the side after missing the first two matches due to a hamstring injury, and Brad Hodge (three) missed out on big scores.   

Hayden, who made 75 in the previous match, showed the way as he provided a blistering start with Gilchrist (29). The pair put on 76 in 13.2 overs before Symonds and Clarke consolidated with a 123-run stand for the fourth wicket.   

Gilchrist was bowled by seamer Irfan Pathan while playing across the line to a slower ball but there was no respite for India as Hayden, Symonds and Clarke gathered runs with ease.