Andrew Symonds provided the power for Australia, but it was a team effort which brought success © Getty Images

Australia like to hunt in a pack - it suits their predatory game-plan. So it was no surprise when almost every member of that pack played a part in devouring their opposition at Hyderabad. They stalked the Indians two at a time, grinding down the resistance as each pair contributed to the hefty total of 290. Andrew Symonds was the chief hunter but he had plenty of friends who also scented success.

India, on the other hand, sent out one man to bring home the kill. Yuvraj Singh was outstanding, but one by one his colleagues slipped quietly away and left him taming the ferocious Australians with nobody covering his flanks.

It was a string of successful partnerships that won this game for Australia - teamwork at its finest from a side that has not lost an ODI since February. One batsman would take the lead, plugging away at the opposition in a methodical and generally risk-free attack. When he eventually took a fatal blow the next man would take up the assault while ensuring there was not too much blood-loss - that way the team never had to worry about a counter-attack.

It is the same method that Australian teams have been using for years. It might come unstuck if wickets fall and the aggression is not curbed, but usually it works because each player has supreme confidence in his own ability and understands what a given situation requires. If everyone does their job, then it doesn't much matter if there is no Michael Hussey to rescue things in the middle order. Hussey's lack of batting time at the World Cup - he wasn't needed on five occasions - shows the system works more often than it fails.

Today it was Matthew Hayden who started the fun. The first over featured a flick off his pads for four, a straight drive to the boundary and another straight drive that was denied by the stumps at the bowler's end. Occasionally these partnerships collapse if the more restrained partner gets jealous and tries to keep up - sensibly Adam Gilchrist realised Hayden was on song and didn't try to match him. He took a back seat for the sake of the team.

When Gilchrist departed Ricky Ponting helped Hayden keep the momentum up for a while, also making a more circumspect start for the good of his side. Although things moved along at a more sedate speed than some Australian innings, the aim was simply to build a platform for a late assault.

Symonds and Michael Clarke finished that platform with a 123-run partnership that took them through to the 45th over. Clarke, like Gilchrist and Ponting before him, took a back seat for the sake of the team. His job was to keep the runs ticking over - a succession of easy singles to long-on and long-off helped him there - while Symonds began the blitz.

The timing of the final barrage was perfect. Australia had gradually stalked India for nearly 40 overs, threatening but not taking too many risks, when Symonds finally pounced, blasting the first six of the innings, over midwicket and whacking an unfortunate spectator in the head. Eighty-three runs came from the final ten overs, and that might not have happened had they attacked too soon.

The partnerships did not end with the batsmen. The tandem new-ball efforts of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson were just as valuable, snuffing out three Indian top-order pairings almost before they had begun. Yuvraj sensed that India were not dead just yet but his friends were gradually picked off as those Australians who had not yet shown their value - Brad Hogg, James Hopes and Stuart Clark - moved in for the final kill.

Australia won this match because they played as a team. Each man knew his place in the pack and nobody tried to tackle the prey alone. Runs were shared, wickets were shared, and unless India can find a way to turn the hunters into the hunted, yet another trophy will be shared by the Australians.