Visakhapatnam, Oct. 20: It was a clash that saw the end of run-drought by two powerful performers — Yuvraj Singh and Michael Clarke. While Clarke (111 n.o) was the chief architect in Australia’s total of 289/3, Yuvraj scored a crucial 58 in India’s five-wicket win at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Wedneday night.

Whilst the seasoned campaigners hit purple patch, the encounter was turned on its head by the performance of three supremely-skilled stars — Cameron White (89 off 49 balls), Virat Kohli (118 off 121 balls) and Suresh Raina (71 off 47 balls). While White’s breezy knock gave Mahi’s men the blues, Kohli and Raina lit up the night, grinding the Australians into submission.

Chasing a stiff 290 for a win, India got off to a shocker with Clint McKay removing debutant Shikhar Dhawan (0) and Murali Vijay (15) to slip to 35 for 2 before Yuvraj and Kohli put up a valuable 137-run stand for the third wicket that gave the Indian dressing room something to cheer.

Kohli was the dominant of the two, fetching boundaries at regular intervals to keep India in the hunt. The centurion did suffer cramps during the course of the innings but managed to keep the momentum, thanks to Dhawan who ran for him. With Yuvraj, Kohli, skipper Dhoni (0) back in the hut, the hosts, at 257 for 5, faced some anxious moments before Raina and debutant Saurabh Tiwary (12 n.o) chased down the total with seven balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, Clarke cracked his fifth one-day century that helped his side recover from a precarious 16 for 2 in the eighth over to a formidable total. Clarke, who has had a forgetful series so far, looked to make amends with his determined knock. He was not particularly fluent to start with, but bided his time and hit the crescendo towards the end.

With openers Shaun Marsh (0) and Tim Paine (9) departing early, it was the turn of Clarke and Hussey to do the repair act. Clarke first added 144 –runs for the third wicket with Michael Hussey (69). R. Ashwin finally broke the shackles when he trapped Hussey. With Australia at 160 for 3 in the 37th over, it was an ideal setting for Cameron White to put the long handle to good use. The Clarke-White duo garnered 129 in the last 13.3 overs of the innings. White took the mickey out of the Indian attack, smashing 70 runs off the last 24 deliveries he faced to swell the total.

While the bowling figures of the Indian bowlers took a beating, it also severely exposed the inexperienced bowling line-up of the hosts. But the hosts’ batting made it count and sealed the deal to go 1-0 up in the series.

Scoreboard

Australia
Marsh b Nehra 0, Paine c Vinay b Nehra 9, Clarke not out 111, Hussey lbw b Ashwin 69, White not out 89. Extras: (lb10, w1) 11
Total (in 50 overs) 289/3
FoW: 1-11, 2-16, 3-160. Bowling: Praveen 9-1-51-0, Nehra 10-1-57-2, Vinay 9-1-71-0, Ashwin 9-0-34-1, Yuvraj 10-0-48-0 (1w), Raina 3-0-18-0
india
Dhawan b McKay 0, Vijay c Paine b McKay 15, Kohli c Hopes b Hastings 118, Yuvraj b McKay 58, Raina not out 71, Dhoni b Hastings 0, Tiwary not out 12. Extras: (b8, lb1, w9) 18
Total (in 48.5 overs) 292/5
FoW: 1-11, 2-16, 3-160, 4-256, 5-257.
Bowling: McKay 10-0-55-3 (1w), Starc 8.5-0-51-0 (4w), Hastings 10-1-46-2 (3w), Hopes 7-0-56-0, Hauritz 10-0-52-0 (1w), Smith 3-0-23-0