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Australia skipper Ricky Ponting won the first of the best-of-three-finals in the VB Series with his astute captaincy and a commanding 88 off just 80 balls, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

The hosts successfully chased the Indian total of 222 to win the first final by seven wickets and more than nine overs to spare.

A 139-run partnership for the second wicket between Ponting and a subdued Matthew Hayden, who scored 50 off 91 balls, settled the issue in Australia's favour.

The Indians lost the game in the mind even before they took the field despite the fact that chasing 230 at the MCG in finals has never been easy.

This was the same ground where 11 years ago India registered their famous win over archrivals Pakistan in the final of the Benson and Hedges World Series. But, today, the Indians just didn't belong here.

The fact that the winning runs came from an overthrow by Yuvraj Singh illustrated the tourists' jaded performance.

Australians now hold the edge and it will take an exceptional outing from India in Sydney in the second final to blunt the hosts on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, a mediocre batting performance by India's top order blemished a tour that has seen the tourists win a lot of accolades.

India were bowled out for 222 in the 49th over of the innings after winning the toss and opting to bat.

The top and the middle order succumbed on a flat track and, at 75 for 6, India were in danger of being bowled out for under 100 runs. But a century partnership between Ajit Agarkar and Hemang Badani, who both scored half-centuries, saw the team cross the 200-run mark.

Suddenly the Indian bats, which were dripping with runs, had more edges than a hexagon. The Australian bowling, which looked pedestrian all through the series, hit their straps like a thoroughbred, at the right time. There was a plan behind the line and length of every ball.

The worrying quantities of hope to put it across the Australians took its toll as the much-vaunted batting failed on the big day.

Indian innings:

On a wicket prepared for batsmen, all that the Indian openers, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, had to do was see off the first six overs of the innings. The Melbourne wicket offers only so much to the bowlers in one-dayers.

That small window of opportunity was all the Australian bowlers required to break through the vaunted Indian batting. Jason Gillespie, who quickly settled into an optimum length – just short of good length – dried up the runs.

In the third over of the innings, he produced a beauty of a delivery that got big on Sehwag after pitching. The batsman took his eyes off the ball and gloved it, for Adam Gilchrist to take a simple catch. India lost their first wicket in the third over. (6-1)

Two overs later, Brett Lee, bowling with the wind behind his back, got through Tendulkar's defence and re-arranged his stumps.

With Tendulkar down on his haunches, it appeared that the ball had kept low but replays confirmed the ball hitting the top of off-stump. Lee scripted the dismissal perfectly by pushing Tendulkar on the back foot with short deliveries before pitching one just a tad up.

Two wickets down in the first six overs and the Australian opening pair had executed their plans to perfection. Maybe, Akash Chopra should have stayed back after all.

Lee produced a spell of pure venom, hitting VVS Laxman on the helmet with a short one and beating Rahul Dravid's bat continuously. Dravid took 16 balls before opening his account and flicking Lee to the mid-wicket fence. In the process he broke the world record for most consecutive innings (120) without a duck.

Laxman, in a rich vein of form, was unruffled by the fall of wickets and continued with his volley of daring strokes. He hooked and drove with purpose, ensuring that the fall of wickets did not stop the score from ticking over.

Ponting, desperate to keep the Indians in check, kept shuffling his field and after fifty minutes at the crease, Laxman succumbed.

Stationing a short mid-wicket, Ponting forced Laxman to drive Brad Williams off the back foot on the up. The batsman offered an easy chance at backward point. Laxman was gone for 24 off 25 balls and India would need an innings of a lifetime from one of its batsmen to recover from 48 for 3.

Dravid resembled a refugee at the crease, struggling with his shot selection. After almost chopping the ball on to his stumps, he played and missed a gentle seamer from Harvey before edging the next ball to Matthew Hayden at first slip for 12. All through his 40-minute stay at the wicket, Dravid kept reaching for the ball, a departure from his natural game, where he lets the ball on to the bat. 

India had lost another wicket without adding to the score and the match seemed headed for a quick finish.

Yuvraj Singh and Ganguly stitched a 27-run partnership before Harvey claimed yet another victim.

Ganguly shaped to cut Harvey and only managed to edge the ball to keeper Gilchrist, standing up to the wickets.

With half the side back in the pavilion with only 75 on the board, the Indian challenge had been blunted.

Minutes later, Yuvraj (21) poked at a delivery from Lee, which took the wood and flew to Gilchrist. (75-6) In the 22nd over, Hemang Badani and Ajit Agarkar got together and staged a comeback of sorts. Agarkar, keen to sign off this Australian tour on a winning note, was confronted with a situation made for his buccaneering style.

With Australia's fifth bowler Andrew Symonds operating at one end, batting was much easier. A fifty-run partnership ensued between the two, with Agarkar taking the lead with 28 of those runs and celebrating with a huge six of Symonds over the mid-wicket fence.

With the wicket easing out, Agarkar was in his element. Smacking another six, this time off Harvey, he raced into the forties and the Australians had probably not planned for an Agarkar assault.

Taking a chunk of his partner's confidence, Badani, who had been sedate all through, also got into the act. Stepping out to Harvey, he sent the ball crashing into the mid-wicket fence.

The runs were flowing and the Indian top-order batsmen must have been ruing not having stayed back a tad longer. Agarkar got to his half-century – his third in one-dayers – off 50 balls. The innings had been salvaged though it did not ensure a tall total for India. 44 of his runs had come off the fourth and fifth bowler. Agarkar picked Symonds, bowling seam up, for 24 runs of the 21 balls he faced. Harvey was taken for 20 of the 21 balls he bowled.

The 100-run partnership for the seventh wicket came up in the 39th over and the Indians had given them some chance of putting up a fighting total.

Michael Clarke got Australia the much-needed breakthrough getting Agarkar caught by Lee at backward point for a sparkling 53 off 62 balls.

Irfan Pathan joined Badani and the fireworks continued. A straight six off Clarke saw India cross the 200-run mark. Pathan has the ability to be an all-rounder for India but whether he can is questionable.

Badani scored his fourth fifty after 20 innings and his first since June 2001. Unlike the TVS Cup final in India last year, he made sure that he translated his start into a substantial contribution for the team.

The run-out of Pathan for 19 pulled India back a bit as the end came at 222 in 49 overs. At one stage they looked good for 245.

Once again Badani was involved in another mix-up. Badani's indecisive running between the wickets accounted for Rohan Gavaskar in the last game against Zimbabwe and today it was Pathan. He never seems to be clear in his calling, always taking a couple of strides before deciding against the run with his partner halfway down the pitch.

But there is no taking away from the fact that his 60 in the end will prove to be the turning point if India go on to win the match.

Australia's fifth bowler yet again turned out to be their Achilles heel, with ten overs, shared between Clarke and Symonds, cossting 65 runs; this despite six Indian wickets falling quickly.

Australia innings:

Adam Gilchrist went after Agarkar in the third over of the innings with three boundaries and Australia were off to another screaming start.   

Time and again the Indian seamers have bowled too wide and short to allow Gilchrist the luxury to swing his arms. After collaring Agarkar, Gilchrist tore into L Balaji and picked him for 14 runs before throwing his wicket away in the same over, hooking the ball straight into the safe hands of Tendulkar at fine leg. His 34 off 20 balls, with seven fours, put Australia in the driver's seat.

223 was never going to be a daunting total to defend unless India picked up early wickets, but with the asking rate dropping below four and with nine wickets in hand, Hayden and Ponting picked the gaps and kept the score rolling without taking undue risks.

After 15 overs, Australia were 92 for 1 and the match as good as over. From then on the interest in the match was academic.

Ponting got his fifty – his 36th in one-dayers – as the Indian seamers had been countered. Kumble could do little to turn the game India's way.

There was despondency in the field with skipper Sourav Ganguly also running short of ideas to bowl out the Aussies.

Ponting was wide-awake on the field, making fielding changes with alacrity. In fact, the wickets of Laxman and Dravid belonged to Ponting's captaincy. He cut Laxman's flow with constant changes and after he saw Dravid play and miss, brought in a slip and the third ball the batsman edged to slip.

But Ganguly seemed to have given up in the mind. If we played so well in the Test series and the early part of the VB Series, it was because we won games in the head. His match was lost even before the 15 over restrictions were taken off.

The hundred run partnership between Hayden and Ponting ensured that the match was headed for a quick finish.

Hayden played a peculiarly uncharacteristic innings, reaching his fifty off 90 balls and looking out of sorts.

His dismissal for 50 was not without controversy. Balaji bowled a slower delivery, which bounced just as Hayden struck it. The ball hit the deck, the bat and flew straight back to the bowler who appealed half-heartedly and after 20 replays was given the nod.

Damien Martyn walked out to bat and was surprisingly not greeted with a crowded close-in field. He appeared jittery at the crease as another failure would guarantee the selector's axe. But he did not meet with any challenges from the Indians.

Ponting followed soon after, edging Balaji to the keeper for 88. But, by then, the damage had been done and Australia needed another 30 runs to win. 

Martyn and Symonds got there with more than nine overs to spare and put the pressure on India to come back and turn things around yet again on this tour.

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