winning moments of the match Ind vs Aus, 1st ODI, Vadodara

Calm Siddle helps Australia triumph In matches as close as this, the team which holds it's nerve under pressure is the one which prevails and the hero for Australia this time was Peter Siddle, who bowled a match-winning last over for his team. His match figures of 1-55 from 9 overs were unflattering but his last over was exceptional. Thanks to a superb 8th-wicket stand between Harbhajan and Praveen Kumar, India had come close needing 42 from the last 3 overs. Harbhajan and Praveen Kumar managed 33 of those runs from the first 2 overs as Siddle conceded 13 and Watson conceded 20 in the 48th and 49th over respectively. With Brett Lee unable to bowl due to a sore elbow and Mitchell Johnson having completed his quota of 10 overs, the onus was on Siddle to restrict the onslaught. Siddle bowled a length ball first up which Praveen Kumar failed to dispatch to the boundary even though it was on his pads. The next one was on target and Harbhajan's stumps were shattered as he played an ugly swipe across the line. With 8 still needed from 4 balls, Siddle fired in 3 consectutive yorkers neither of which the Indian batsmen could put away. With 6 needed off the last ball, Siddle bowled another very full delivery to Nehra who could only slam it down to long on as Australia won by 4 runs.

Australia hold nerve to edge India in thriller

Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh's batting heroics took India agonisingly close to a sensational win before the hosts slumped to a four-run defeat against Australia in the first match of the seven-ODI cricket series.

At 201 for seven in their pursuit of a 293-run victory target, India seemed heading for a comprehensive defeat before Praveen (40 not out) and Harbhajan (49) came up with a defiant 84-run stand off just 57 balls for the eighth wicket that nearly took them home.

Much to the disappointment of the crowd, India managed 288 for eight falling 5 runs short of the target.

A solid 68 from Gautam Gambhir, complemented by cameos from Kohli and Dhoni had put India well on course towards a victory. However quick wickets during the batting powerplay reduced the team to 201/7 with 10 overs remaining. Harbhajan and Praveen then brought down the target to 30 from the last 15 balls and then nine from the last six.

But once Harbhajan departed, India lost the momentum and Australia stopped the hosts four runs short of their total.

Earlier, Ricky Ponting (74) led from the front and was amply supported by Man of the Match Mike Hussey (73), Tim Paine (50) and Cameron White (51) as the visitors rattled up 292 for eight after opting to bat first on a featherbed track.

Faced with the daunting task of scoring at 5.86 per over, the star-studded Indian line-up came a cropper against some disciplined bowling and tight fielding.

Earlier in the innings, Gambhir played the sheet-anchor's role after the cheap dismissal of openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to topscore with 68 off 85 balls with six fours and a six in it.

Dhoni and Kohli made starts before getting out when in their 30s.

After being 167 for three in the 35th over, the Indians lost three quick wickets - Gambhir, Suresh Raina (9) and Dhoni - while adding only 19 runs and soon it became 201 for seven at the fall of Ravindra Jadeja in the 40th over.

Harbhajan and Praveen kept the hosts in the hunt with some lusty hits to raise visions of a come-from-behind victory, but in the end it proved of no avail.

With this win, Australia surged to their second successive victory at this venue over the home team, having beaten the hosts by nine wickets in 2007 at this very ground.

Though India came close, their top-order batting, bowling as well as fielding were thoroughly exposed by the Australian team which is riding on a high after whipping England 6-1 and then retaining the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

In the morning, the Australia top-order took a heavy toll of the listless Indian bowling attack to raise a big total. Although Australia suffered an early blow, when Watson fell off the eighth ball, a superb partnership worth nearly a hundred between Ponting and Paine helped the team back on track.

The sound beginning was built upon by half-centuries from White and Hussey as the Indian bowling, which has struggled of late, was put to the sword in merciless fashion.

The Indian chase began in style with Virender Sehwag hitting Lee's first two deliveries for successive boundaries. But the bowler had the last laugh by getting rid if the DelLee eventually settled score by getting rid off Sehwag by having the batsman caught for 13 in 11 balls.

India lost another big wicket when Sachin Tendulkar drove a wide ball from Watson up into a packed off-side field and Ponting took a blinder at short cover-point.

Virat Kohli, playing in company of Gambhir, steadied the innings with a stand of 58 in 75 balls and the pair raised the 100 in the 19th over when Kohli fell to Adam Voges.

Gambhir and Dhoni then strung a partnership of 64 runs with diligence for the fourth wicket before Mitchell Johnson first removed the left-hander and then took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Suresh Raina. which left India at 183 for five in the 37th over.

It was left to Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to guide India home but the skipper got out soon, trying to loft Watson and giving a tame catch to Lee at mid on.

For Australia, Johnson led the bowling with two for 59, while Watson secured 2 for 70. Surprisingly brett Lee was only given 6 overs to bowl during which he gave away 28 runs while picking up the key wicket of Sehwag.

The thrilling victory put the visitors 1-0 up in the series ahead of the second day/night encounter at Nagpur on October 28.

England discover World Cup fate

England have been drawn against India, West Indies and South Africa in their seven-team group for the 2011 Cricket World Cup in the Indian sub-continent. Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Ireland complete Group B, while world champions Australia are in Group A alongside New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya make up the other sides in the 14-team tournament. India will host 29 of the tournament's 49 matches, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will share the other 20. Bangladesh capital Dhaka is due to host the opening ceremony on 18 February. Pakistan had been scheduled to host a number of matches, but were stripped of co-hosting rights because of security problems in the country. Fierce rivals India and Pakistan have been kept apart in the group stages, while Australia, who have have won the previous three World Cups, will face neighbours New Zealand, whom they beat by six wickets in the final of the Champions Trophy on Monday. Organisers have revised the format of the tournament following criticism about the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, with the number of teams cut from 16 to 14 as well as 49 matches in all compared to 51.

The two groups of seven for the 2011 World Cup are also in contrast to the four groups of four before a Super Eight stage in the six-weel long competition in the Caribbean. "We're already certain that it will be shorter. You can be sure that we at the ICC had learnt from past mistakes," said ICC president David Morgan. "I mean there is no doubt that the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean was unsuccessful in some aspects. "We've learnt from that and I think that it's not worthy that we've now staged three highly successful events - 2007 and 2009 - World Twenty20 and now the Champions Trophy in the same years." ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat added: "We're on record as saying that we acknowledged that 2007 might have been longer than desired. So we want to take a week off, if not more."

Cricket World Cup groups:

Group A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands

Ashes dates for 2010-11 announced

The schedule for England's defence of the Ashes in Australia during 2010-11 has been finalised. England beat Australia 2-1 in this year's contest and the next five-Test series will start at the Gabba in Brisbane on 25 November. Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney will also play host to Test matches. England will play three warm-up games against first-class opponents before the start of the series and one in-between the second and third Tests. In the 2005-06 series, which Australia won 5-0, England had only one first-class game before the first Test, although they did also play warm-up games against a President's XI and New South Wales.

England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive David Collier said: "The recent Ashes Test series between the two sides was the sporting highlight of the summer and has really whetted the appetite of all cricket supporters as England seek to retain the Ashes next winter." Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland added: "I know we have only just finished an Ashes series in England but I also know that the Aussie players - and Australian cricket in general - are already thinking about the Ashes series down under which starts in just over 12 months.

"Australia has a very good Ashes record at home and I'm hopeful that will continue next summer and we can bring the urn back to Australia."

2010-11 Ashes Test series dates: First Test: 25-29 November, 2010 (Brisbane) Second Test: 3-7 December, 2010 (Adelaide) Third Test: 16-20 December, 2010 (Perth) Fourth Test: 26-30 December, 2010 (Melbourne) Fifth Test: 3-7 January, 2011 (Sydney)