Dahiya scored a quickfire 50

The tourists had seemingly been set to take the match to the wire until skipper Steve Waugh's controversial lbw dismissal in the 36th over.

His departure saw the required run-rate creep above seven an over for the first time in the innings and left the Aussies with too much to do.

Adam Gilchrist followed shortly afterwards as Australian hopes of an unlikely victory faded.

Sehwag did the damage, claiming three quick wickets.

He struck twice in the space of ten balls to dismiss Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn before trapping the skipper Steve Waugh a few overs later.

Replays appeared to show Waugh had made contact with the ball but umpire D Sharma may not have heard the nick in the deafening noise.

Australia lost Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting within the first nine overs but rallied to give themselves a fighting chance.

Hayden, partnered by fellow left-hander Michael Bevan, played a vital role in restoring the Australian runrate to the required level.

Tendulkar set the tone for India's innings

The pair put on 109 between them and reached 153-2 before Bevan (53) holed out to Robin Singh at midwicket off the bowling of Saurav Ganguly.

Australia seemed unruffled and Hayden, partnered by Steve Waugh, seemed set to post his hundred.

However he was unlucky to be adjudged lbw while on 99, missing an attempted sweep shot off Sehwag.

Just five more runs were added before his replacement, Martyn, was caught behind as he tried to clip another Sehwag delivery.

Waugh, joined by wicketkeeper Gilchrist, looked up for the challenge but became Sehwag's third victim, given lbw playing across the line.

Left-armer Zahir Khan then claimed the vital wicket of Gilchrist three overs later to expose the Aussie tail.

Victorian pair Ian Harvey and Shane Warne appeared to fancy their chances but fell in quick succession attempting to hit out.

It looked good for Australia when Ganguly went early on

Srinath took the wicket of Warne to move into second place in the list of leading Indian wicket takers behind Anil Kumble.

He followed it with the scalp of Glenn McGrath to end the innings and clinch victory.

India's total of 315 all out was their highest one-day score against the Australian tourists, surpassing a 309-5 at Cochin in 1998.

It came courtesy of a measured display from Dravid, who shared in significant partnerships with Sehwag and wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya.

The Indian No 4 rescued India from a spot of early bother at 122-4.

It was a particularly muscular display from Sehwag, who took 46 balls to hit his maiden one-day half century, smashing eight boundaries.

India averaged more than six runs an over after recovering from the loss of openers Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.

Dravid sets off for a run while Gilchrist looks on

Tendulkar propelled India to 50 inside nine overs setting the tone for India's aggressive innings.

He hit six fours and a six in his 26-ball knock before being run out on 35 to leave India on 52-2.

Dravid provided India's backbone, making a partnership of 100 with Sehwag to take India past the 200 mark and 67 with Dahiya to bring up the 250.

He appeared to be closing in on his century but he went for 80 after holing out to Harvey from the bowling of Martyn in the 44th over.

No 8 Agit Agarkar brought up the 300 for India before Australia finally wrapped up the innings, conceding just nine more runs as they took the last four wickets in eleven balls.

Teams:
Australia: Steve Waugh (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Fleming, Ian Harvey, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne.

India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Hemang Badani, Vijay Dahiya, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar.

Umpires: D Sharma and S K Sharma