Dhoni's masterclass stuns Australia in opener

MS Dhoni's masterful 224 in the first innings handed his side the advantage and helped them beat Australia by eight wickets on a pitch that aided spin from the first day. Dhoni's innings came after R Ashwin made most of a crumbling surface to claim seven wickets in the first innings.

Ashwin's flight and spin had the tourists reeling at 131 for four. He accounted for openers Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson in the second session of the Test.

Michael Clarke, Australia's captain, then proved his credentials by mastering the conditions and scoring 130. His 151-run stand for the sixth wicket with debutant Moises Henriques helped Australia post 380 in the first innings.

India stuttered with the bat initially as they lost their openers - Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag - cheaply. Sachin Tendulkar and Cheteshwar Pujara restored some parity with 93-run stand. Following their departure, Dhoni and Virat Kohli stepped into the fray with a superlative display.

Dhoni shredded Australia's attack and exposed their bowling. During an innings that spanned more than five hours, Dhoni turned a potential deficit into a commanding lead.

At the end of day three, he was batting on 206 off 243 balls - his career-best score - and India were 515 for 8, 135 ahead.

Dhoni and Kohli put up 128 for the fifth wicket in just over 26 overs and gave India a comfortable 192-run lead.

Henriques came good in the second innings as well with an unbeaten 81. He helped clear out the deficit and set a 50-run target, which India overhauled with ease in the first session of day five.

Dhoni said that he was happy with the team's overall performance in the Test. "It was important that we batted for four sessions and we were able to bat for more than four sessions," he said.

"A lot of credit goes to three, four and five number batsmen as they played long innings. Sachin didn't get a hundred or Pujara didn't get a big fifty, but they played for a considerable period of time."

He said that his plan was to attack early in his innings to spread the field.

"Nathan was bowling well so it was important to play some big shots, so we got rid of that extra catching fielder so that if you misread a delivery or go back to a ball pitched up, you don't have that extra catching fielder to take that inside edge and it worked well."