At Kochi, October 2, 2007. Australia won by 84 runs. Toss: India.
Sreesanth's antics reached fever pitch in his home town. He repeatedly ran down the strip in
his follow-through, and celebrated wickets with ugly send-offs: his aggro boiled over and quickly
became counterproductive. Dhoni ignored India's history of chasing poorly against the Aussies,
decided to bowl first again, and once more claimed early wickets: Australia were pegged back to
66 for three before wresting back the initiative. Symonds hit 87 of his series total of 365 runs,
putting on 94 with Hayden, who made a subdued 75, and 108 with Haddin, who hurtled to 87
(his second half-century in successive games) off just 69 balls. India were never in the running
after losing four wickets in the first 15 overs, and the wide margin of defeat was an indication
of things to come.
Man of the Match: B. J. Haddin.