Even as the last of the 35,000-odd fans left the PCA stadium, stunned at how the Indian batting choked chasing a very gettable 251, the home dressing room presented a stark contrast to how it had been during the mid-innings break. The bowlers had done their job then, and for the second game running, their fielding had been top notch, accounting for four run-outs. But, by the time the last ball of the day had been bowled, the players couldn't figure out how they had thrown it away.

From a position of great strength, they lost the match by 24 runs, and a series that India seemed to be dominating against a ragged Australian outfit is now tied 2-2. The fifth one-dayer will be played in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Slow and steady

As if signalling how nothing was going in favour of visiting skipper Ricky Ponting, Dhoni even won his first toss of the series, and he must have had the evening dew on his mind when he asked the Australians to bat first.

Shaun Marsh fell early to Ashish Nehra but Shane Watson and Ponting rescued the side with a 64-run stand for the second wicket. They kept the scoreboard moving without being flashy until Watson's dismissal — off the first delivery by Punjab off-spinner Harbhajan Singh — seemed to change the script.

Ponting got his half-century and Australia looked on course with Hussey and White steady without really threatening the Indian bowling. Just when it seemed the platform had been prepared for a charge that would take Australia to an imposing, winning total, it all started to unravel and the last six batsmen failed to reach double figures.

The Aussies could manage only 50 runs with one boundary in the final 10, and the total was at least 30 short of what they would have wanted.

Great start

Virender Sehwag gave India the perfect start, bringing up the 40 inside the seventh over with some big hitting. What followed thereafter was not pleasant. Virat Kohli failed at number three, Sachin Tendulkar got a start but fell again (seven short of the 17,000-run mark), Suresh Raina continued to find it hard to win tight matches while Ravindra Jadeja, for all his superb left-arm spin, proved his batting credentials aren’t really up to expectations at No 7.