Australia has reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, grinding a despondent India into the dust with a comprehensive innings victory in the third Test in Perth.
The tourists' resistance lasted just 20 balls into the second session on day three as they lost their last four wickets without scoring to buckle to defeat by a disastrous innings and 37 runs.
Australian captain Michael Clarke hailed the performance of a reinvented outfit missing injured trio Shane Watson, James Pattinson and Patrick Cummins.
"I continue to say you need a good mix of youth and experience and I think we've got that at the moment," Clarke told Grandstand.
"It's very pleasing for us to get some results for all the hard work we're putting in."
Tasmanian quick Ben Hilfenhaus's remarkable resurgence continued as he claimed three wickets in five deliveries after lunch to record match figures of 8 for 97 and move to a leading 23 wickets for the series.
Peter Siddle finished with 3 for 43 to accumulate 17 wickets as India was shot out for 171, with only Virat Kohli and his Test-best 75 displaying any fortitude on a pitch where man-of-the-match David Warner creamed 180 off 159 deliveries.
"He's been a wonderful talent for a long time now, he plays a great brand of cricket," Clarke said of Warner.
"He's been really good around the group, he's got plenty of energy and he's a very good fielder.
"His batting continues to improve, I love his work ethic, he trains as hard as anyone and I think he's in for a good, long career for Australia."
Mitchell Starc claimed two wickets and four for the match while Ryan Harris toiled hard and removed Sachin Tendulkar in the first innings and Rahul Dravid in the second in his first Test in two months.
Australia's second straight innings win saw it move to a dominant 3-0 lead in the series with Adelaide remaining, and it appears the selectors will have a welcome headache with Clarke expecting spin to play a part.
"I think conditions are going to be a lot different in Adelaide and I'd be very surprised if Nathan (Lyon) doesn't come back into the team," Clarke said.
One person who has already got their hotel room booked for Adelaide is Warner, who took the game away from India with his devastating century.
Take away the 214-run opening stand between he and Ed Cowan (74) and suddenly the game takes on a whole different complexion.
"It's obviously a good achievement for myself (winning man of the match), but as I keep saying credit to our bowlers, they've bowled fantastic over the last couple for Tests," Warner said.
"They keep seeing the weakness of the Indians, bowling outside the fourth and sixth stump line and they seem to keep nicking them, so hopefully we can continue that in the next Test."
The questions about India's batsmen are now coming thick and fast as they again demonstrated an inability to handle Australian conditions.
VVS Laxman recorded a nine-ball duck and has a woeful 102 runs at 17.00 this series, while Dravid has managed 168 runs at 28.00.
The 39-year-old was bowled for the eighth time in his last 10 innings, this time by Harris who lasted the distance in his return from a nagging hip injury.
Dravid, in fine fettle last year, admittedly made 47 on a difficult wicket but he is now looking vulnerable and has been bowled 54 times in Test cricket, surpassing Allan Border's previous record.
Explosive opener Virender Sehwag had another double failure (0 and 10) and has not hit triple figures in 23 knocks.
Indian captain MS Dhoni admitted his batting line-up flopped once again but said Warner's amazing innings was the main difference between the two sides.
"Of course the wicket was a difficult wicket to bat on, but at the same time we had to make the most out of it and not making even 200 runs makes it very difficult for the bowlers to get the opposition out," he said.
"Of course Warner batted really well, in that one session on the first day he put pressure on us, he forced the bowlers to commit mistakes but at the same time he played some really good big shots.
"It really made the difference because after that it became a bit easy for the other batsmen to score."
India also has worrying concerns in the bowling department.
While wily veteran Zaheer Khan continues to threaten, albeit it in spurts, and Umesh Yadav did claim a maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings, the alarming slide of Ishant Sharma continues.
He has taken just four wickets for the series at an average of 81.
Tags: sport, cricket, perth-6000, wa, australia First posted January 15, 2012 17:25:09
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