15-Apr-2004
At Mumbai, November 1, 2003 (day/night). Australia won by 77 runs. Australia 6 pts. Toss: Australia.
John Wright, India's New Zealand-born coach, said before the game that he expected Australia,
having had extra time to acclimatise and a rare defeat to absorb, would be a much tougher
proposition this time around. So they were. Dravid's experiment of opening the bowling with
Zaheer Khan and Sehwag will not be remembered as a great success: Gilchrist smashed eight
fours in his 30-ball 41, and was the principal aggressor as Australia opened their account with
54 off the first five overs. The impetus served Australia well throughout the innings. Martyn
brought up his first fifty off 84 deliveries but cut loose as the overs started running down and
needed just 34 more balls to reach his century. India's reply started badly, with Sehwag falling
to the first ball of the innings. Tendulkar and Dravid did enough repair work to keep India in the
game. However, Clarke's left-arm spin was the surprise package - he dismissed those two plus
Yuvraj Singh and returned to end Kumble's lower-order defiance.
Man of the Match: D. R. Martyn.