5 High voltage India v Australia clashes in ODIs

4. Australia v India, CB Series 2008, 2nd Final:

After winning the first of the best-of-three finals comprehensively, history was at the beckoning as India was on the cusp of registering a first ever series win in Australia in any format. This meant a lot to the fans and the team and there was a full house at The Gabba to witness this high-profile encounter.

Robin Uthappa and Sachin Tendulkar posted a 90-run opening stand and with Yuvraj and Dhoni getting a brilliant start, it seemed like India will breach the 300 mark. Nathan Bracken’s amazing spell hen brought Australia back in the game and India were bundled out for 258 in their 50 overs, giving a much-needed momentum to the Aussies going into the run chase.

Praveen Kumar was breathing fire with the new ball, picking up the prized scalps of Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, and Michael Clarke inside the Powerplay. But a spectacular stand between Hayden and Symonds terrorized the Indian fans. Some magical fielding work from Yuvraj ran Hayden out completely out of the blue and Symonds too was dismissed in the next over.

India was in complete command of the game as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals, but James Hopes took the game till the last over. Irfan Pathan took 2 wickets in the final over to ensure India completed a historic win and this still ranks as one of the greatest ODI triumphs in Indian cricket history, considering how powerful Aussies were back then.