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Australia were undone by an expert partnership between Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni as India strode to a six-wicket victory in the third limited overs match at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
The tourists had fancied their chances of successfully defending 5-229 on a pudding of a pitch that favoured slow bowlers, but the aristocratic Yuvraj (78, 96 balls) and his more punchy captain Dhoni (71no, 95 balls) batted with rare poise and good sense to reel in the target with 10 balls to spare and claim a 2-1 lead in the series.
Yuvraj and Dhoni joined each other with India 3-53 and wobbling, but they took their time before thrashing 24 in overs 34-35 from debutant Moises Henriques (1-51) and part-timer Adam Voges (one over for 13) to ease the required run rate.
The stand ended at 148, but Dhoni hung around to mop up the 29 runs that remained.
Replacement Australian wicketkeeper Graham Manou endured a torrid night as he adjusted to the low bounce just 24 hours after landing in India, but fellow inclusion Doug Bollinger (0-26 from 10 tidy overs) was arguably the pick of the visiting attack.
The home side’s chase began swiftly.
Sachin Tendulkar (32) had been quiet thus far, and he seemed intent on rectifying this by playing with rare fluency early on.
Virender Sehwag (11) was more subdued, and was struck on the ankle by a full delivery from Siddle before he left an inviting gap between bat and pad for Johnson lost his middle stump.
Johnson’s opening spell was otherwise uninspiring, but he was sharp in the field and threw out Tendulkar from mid off when the little master unwisely took a quick single to the fast bowler’s left arm.
Gautam Gambhir (six), earlier struck by a Ponting pull shot at short leg while fielding, never looked comfortable and was soon bowled by a Hauritz delivery that held up off the surface, leaving the Indians in genuine bother.
That wicket, however, would be the last chance afforded the Australians, who gradually flagged in the face of a shrewd union and ultimately conceded the winning runs to a misfield.
Australia’s innings was built upon the work of captain Ricky Ponting (59, 92 balls) and the in-form Mike Hussey (81,82 balls).
Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh (1-37), Ravindra Jadeja (2-41), Yuvraj (1-30) and Suresh Raina (1-23) played useful restricting roles for the Indians.
Ponting played with the steely determination of a captain under pressure, a position he had been placed in by a combination of the schedule, numerous injuries and an interrupted preparation due to wet practice wickets.
He was considered, careful, but still dangerous, so the Indians celebrated with particular fervour when Ponting was out lbw to a Jadeja delivery that struck him near the boot in line with off stump.
Hussey produced another effort of quality to go with half centuries in the first two matches, using all his ingenuity to keep the runs ticking over if not quite flowing.
Ponting paid credit to India’s batsmen rather than dwelling on what his side might have done better.
“I don’t think we can blame ourselves too much for this one,” he said.
“They batted much better than us in slightly more difficult conditions.”
The fourth match of the seven-game series takes place in the northern city of Chandigarh on Monday.
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