Match score: Australia 3-0 Great Britain

The British pair did not always combine well

Australia have won their Davis Cup match with Great Britain after taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in Sydney.

The hosts were made to work to win the third tie, with the pair of Arvind Parmar and Miles Maclagan winning Britain's first set of the tie in Sydney.

Defeat for Britain means they will have to go into a play-off to make sure they go back into the World Group.

With little expected of the British during this tie, for the team to have won a set while the match was still competitive ranks as something of an achievement.

The home side, represented by Lleyton Hewitt and Todd Woodbridge, had sprinted into a 5-0 lead in the first set against a very nervous British pairing.

It was not easy for us this weekend, but I'm glad we're through it John Fitzgerald Australian captain

After holding serve to win their first game, the British duo briefly threatened the serve of Woodbridge at 30-0.

The set lasted just under 20 minutes.

In the second set, Maclagan's vulnerable serve was broken twice, despite the British pair showing a little more quality than they had in the first set.

At 5-3 down, Maclagan and Parmar saved three set points before Hewitt and Woodbridge capitalised at their fourth attempt.

We expected the opposition to be as tough as they are, and in a way we're taking positives out of it Roger Taylor British captain

But the British pair engineered two breaks of serve in the third set to unsettle the Australian pair.

The British duo initially took a 2-0 lead, only to be hauled back to 3-3, before another break got them to 5-4.

The set was taken on the second set point of a nervy service game from Maclagan.

The run could not last and at 2-3 in the fourth set, Parmar and Maclagan played an awful service game, gifting their opponents break points with three unforced errors.

Fittingly, when the end game, it was courtesy of a winner from Hewitt, the world number one who covets Davis Cup glory as fiercely as he does his own individual success.

Sunday's two singles matches will be played over the best of three sets.