It was a great perforamce by India in Perth: British PM

NEW DELHI: Nothing pleases a Britisher more than seeing Ashes rivals Australia bite the dust and England Prime Minister Gordon Brown on monday lent credence to this perception as he congratulated the Indian cricket team for hammering the world champions in Perth.
   
"I congratulate the Indian cricket team for beating Australia in Perth two days ago. It was a fantastic performance," the British Prime Minister, who was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Delhi University on Monday, told here.
   
India beat Australia by 72 runs in third Test at Perth to keep the four-match series alive after going 0-2 down after back-to-back defeats in Melbourne and Sydney.
   
England and Australia have been traditional cricketing rivals with the Ashes being one of the most anticipated Test series.
   
However, Australia's domination on the coveted trophy has reduced it to a one-sided affair over the years and the world champions recorded a 5-0 whitewash when the teams clashed last time in 2006.
   
The triumph in Perth was not the only Indian success that caught Brown's attention.

The British premier also lauded archer Dola Banerjee's historic gold medal in the World Championship last year.
   
"India has lot of potential and an example of this is the young woman who has excelled in archery. She won the world championship last year and has presented herself as a very good medal prospect for her country in Olympics," he said.