Australia v India 1999-2000

At Perth, January 30. Australia won by four wickets. Toss: India.

Having already lost Ganguly and Kumble to injury, India were further handicapped by yet another poor start. Both openers went in the first nine overs. This time, though, the later batsmen were helped by the Australians' uncharacteristic fielding errors and generous bowling from the two Shanes, Warne and Lee. This was Warne's first game since his injury at Brisbane. Dravid and Kanitkar put on 81 in 15 overs but Ponting broke the stand with a brilliant catch, running and then diving full-length at cover. A stand of 73 from ten overs between Robin Singh and Dighe kept the momentum going. Even so, 226 never looked enough, not with the Indian bowlers feeding the Australian strokemakers a steady diet of short-pitched deliveries. Bevan, in particular, relished them.

Man of the Match: M. G. Bevan. Attendance: 26,116.