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Australia scored a thrilling two-wicket victory, with one ball to spare, over India in the seventh match of the VB tri-series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

In a closely-fought match that went down to the wire, lapses in the field proved costly for India in the end after Adam Gilchrist, 95 off just 72 balls, played a blinder to set Australia on the path to victory

Earlier, India scored 296 for the loss of four wickets. The visitors rode high on classic centuries from Yuvraj Singh and V V S Laxman to make light of the absence of the injured pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Australia rested opener Matthew Hayden and included Simon Katich. Fast bowler Andy Bichel came in for Brad Williams.

India included all-rounder Ajit Agarkar in place of fast bowler Ashish Nehra and picked spinner Murali Kartik ahead of Anil Kumble.

India innings

India elected to bat, but the decision did not turn out too well for Sourav Ganguly, who was accompanied by Parthiv Patel at the start of the innings.

The Indian skipper was sent back to the pavilion in only the second over of the day. An old malady -- the short ball directed at the rib -- has come back to haunt him in the one-day series. He has been dismissed twice in that manner in the series and was understandably wary of the delivery. Brett Lee softened him up with two short deliveries at the ribs and then bowled one that left the batsman. Ganguly, playing away from his body, poked at the delivery and the resultant edge went straight to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist. (1-1)

Lee seemed to have found his rhythm as he touched speeds of 155 km/h in his first spell of four over for 18 runs.

Laxman was the new batsman and his good form was in evidence almost right away. A few perfectly timed boundaries announced his arrival at the wicket. Patel took cue from the right-hander to slam a few fours of his own.

The duo put on 62 runs at a decent rate to consolidate after Ganguly's dismissal. But then Patel played one shot too many. He tried to guide the ball to third man but edged it to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist -- the extra bounce that Jason Gillespie extracted from the wicket defeated the batsman. (63-2)

The allegation of ball-tampering in the match against Zimbabwe would have surely placed additional stress on Rahul Dravid, who was in next. He did not show it though. Three fours were his only scoring shots to reach 12 off just seven balls before he was dismissed by Andy Bichel, whose first three overs had gone for 23. (80-3)

Yuvraj Singh walked in at a crucial juncture and played his part to perfection. Along with Laxman he ensured that the total progressed at a very steady rate. While Laxman was at his elegant best, Yuvraj cleverly picked the singles and twos before cutting loose towards the end of the innings.

In the 27th over of the innings there was a brief stoppage in play due to rain but it failed to shake the concentration of the batsmen.

Yuvraj brought up his 100 with an inside edge that luckily missed the stumps, but there was no element of risk throughout his magnificent innings. Shots all round the wicket showed his dominance -- not only of Australia but the partnership as well.

Laxman was on 39 when the young left-hander arrived at the crease. He continued his impressive record against the Aussies as he reached his century in the 48th over of the innings. He has four centuries in ODIs and all have come against the men from Down Under.

The 49th over of the innings yielded 22 runs (1,1,6,4,4,6). Ian Harvey's exotic concoction of slower balls was dealt harshly by Yuvraj, who got 21of those, and these runs just might be the difference between victory and defeat.

Yuvraj was finally dismissed in the last over of the innings. His 139 is the highest individual innings at the SCG and came off only 122 balls. (293-4)

The Indians scored 85 runs in the last ten overs to end up on 296 for the loss of four wickets. Laxman, with 106 off 130 balls, and Rohan Gavaskar, 2, were at the crease when the alloted 50 overs were completed.

The greatest strength of this Indian team is its ability to play as a unit; players always willing to put up their hand and come up with good performances when the team needs it most. Laxman and Yuvraj certainly did.

Australia will need Gilchrist or Ricky Ponting to play a blinder if they want to win the match.

It was interesting to note that the Aussies didn't get docked an over or two for being 15 minutes over time. They were actually 25 minutes in excess, but 10 minutes can be attributed to the rain delay.

In the Brisbane Test, Ganguly was threatened and harangued by umpires in the middle of the match, and even by the match referee for being five short. An over or two less could have made a big difference in such a high scoring encounter.

Australia innings

The Aussies needed to get off to a flying start and Gilchrist obliged. The left-hander started with a boundary in the first over of the innings before proceeding to hammer the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground.

Simon Katich, promoted to opener in the absence of Hayden, was dismissed for two when he tried to pull a short delivery off Irfan Pathan.

But his loss failed to bother Gilchrist, who seemed intent on destroying the inexperienced Indian attack. He was on 48 off just 29 balls with nine boundaries and a six when heavy rain lashed the SCG. Ponting, 13 off 20 balls, was batting at the other end.

Australia were 73 for the loss of one wicket in 9.2 overs when rain forced play to be suspended.

The players returned after nearly an hour and Australia were set a revised target of 225 in 34 overs under the Duckworth/Lewis rule.

Which meant, for India, four bowlers had a maximum of seven overs, with one bowler restricted to six.

Gilchrist and Ponting batted with purpose and aggression after play resumed. By the 20th over of the innings, Australia were 146 for 1, well on course to victory.

Yuvraj injured his hip while attempting to run-out Gilchrist off the last ball of the 21st over. A long delay followed as the physio, Andrew Leipus, tried to find out what was exactly wrong with the hero of India's batting earlier in the day. The break worked in India's favour. Australia needed 75 off 78 balls with nine wickets in hand at this stage. But the equation changed dramatically during the next few overs.

Off the very next ball, Ponting was gone, chasing a widish slower ball. He was obviously disturbed by the break in play. (150 -2)

Pathan struck again off the next ball to dismiss Damien Martyn for a golden duck. (150 - 3)

Symonds came in to face the hat-trick ball but played out the remaining four balls without conceding a run to record the first wicket maiden of the match.

Murli Kartik struck another huge blow for the Indians in the next over when he dismissed Gilchrist. He pushed the ball through the air for the first five deliveries of the over, but he flighted the sixth and beat Gillchrist in the air. The batsman hit the ball back to the bowler, who took a very good return catch. (154-4)

India were back in the match. The Aussies seemed to be self-destructing. Three wickets in quick time and Symonds -- deciding that attack is the best option -- followed soon after. The powerful batsman smashed Ganguly for a flat six over cover and then perished while aiming for the maximum on the leg-side. Agarkar, on the mid-wicket boundary, made no mistake. (176-5)

Patel committed another blunder behind the wickets when he missed a simple stumping off Kartik that would have sent Michael Clarke, on 0 then, back to the hut. It was one of many he has committed throughout the tour Down Under. While the other mistakes did not have a huge bearing on the result of the match, this one certainly did.

Patel may have a huge amount of talent but one gets the feeling he needs to spend a few more years in Ranji Trophy before emerging a finished product.

Ganguly claimed another vital wicket when he clean bowled Michael Bevan (12 off 20 balls). The ball moved off the pitch to crash into the off-stump. (195-6)

The Indian skipper claimed another two wickets, those of Ian Harvey and Clarke. But Clarke made a crucial 21off 20 balls before being dismissed. (210-8) Brett Lee and Andy Bichel were the batsmen left to get Australia to the target.

With two overs to go, Australia needed 15 runs. Agarkar bowled beautifully to concede only four in the second last over of the match, which had slowly tilted - ever so slightly - towards the Indians.

11 runs off 6 balls was the equation. But a one-day game is never over till the last ball is bowled. And so it was proved again for the umpteenth time. Lakhsmipathy Balaji, playing in only his sixth ODI, was entrusted the responsibility of sending down the final over. Lee was the batsman. The first ball was a yorker right up to the bat and the batsmen squeezed a single. A single of the next ball gave Lee the strike. Lee scrambled two off the next ball. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats; every eye firmly set on the action in the middle.

7 runs off 3 balls - the equation was still in India's favour. But Lee conjured up a six from almost nowhere. The ball was a little outside the off-stump and, somehow, Lee got underneath the ball and lofted it for maximum.

The situation changed drastically: 1 off 2 balls. Lee duly completed a single off the next ball to give Australia a thrilling victory. Australia have Lee, Gilchrist and Patel to thank for their victory. Ganguly will be a dejected man; no one likes to lose after coming so close.

In such a closely-fought game every run is crucial and Ganguly will certainly rue the missed stumping and also the 15 wides that were bowled. The more you watch Australia and India play, the more you wonder: Do we really need Zimbabwe to play in the tri-series?