In the history of the game this could have been one of the most experienced drinks team as Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath walked in with towels and pieces of paper from Buchanan’s famous red diary. But this was that rare day when the rivals had a plan that was better than the one in the red diary.

As the Aussie captain for the day Mike Hussey said, “I was really desperate for ideas when Ponting walked in and I bounced a few ideas off him.’’ But as Brian Lara promised on eve of the match, and also proved today, that the Aussies were not quite invincible.

The three-wicket win that the West Indies recorded today meant they qualified for the final today, barring a bizarre mathematical possibility. And in case India fancy any chance of meeting them they have to win their last two games. The road ahead seems tough as Rahul Dravid’s men meet a high-on-confidence West Indies on Wednesday and the wounded Aussies on Friday. To make matters worse, an abandonment due to rains will mean an early flight home.

The only positive for India today was the fact that Lara, finally, showed a way past the Aussies. He talked about discipline, aggression and fighting them at every turn. And that’s exactly what he and his men did. By bowling in the right areas the Aussies didn’t get a blazing start and they eventually managed an achievable score of 272 despite a run-heavy end.

The stand-in captain Hussey was outstanding. In the last 20 overs Australia put up 150 runs with Hussey bringing up his ton with two consecutive fours in 49th over.

But it was the controlled West Indian aggression that caught the eye. Keeping wickets in hand they launched into a systematic all-out attack. Chris Gayle and Lara stepped on the pedal whenever the Aussies were thinking of a counter. Seventeen runs in the 13th over, 21 in 15th, 15 in 25th, 23 in 30th, 10 in 31st and 9 in 37th meant the target was always achievable.

Though there was the usual West Indies hiccup at the end but still Lara said, “I have the confidence in my players and I feel that it’s going to come right. Bravo took his time to get in and batted very well.’’

If it was hard to miss the show put up by Lara and Gayle, the performance of Bravo and Bradshaw too cannot be undermined. Bradshaw’s 10-1-35-2 and Bravo’s 2/52 and more importantly 37 not out proved that the West Indies, like so often in the tournament, doesn’t have a few good men.

The West Indies will see the return of form of Bravo and Bradshaw as a good omen before the Champions Trophy starting next month. It was the match-winning partnership between the two that helped the emotional favourites West Indies bring home the silverware two years ago.

Scoreboard

Australia

M Hayden c Taylor b Bravo 49; S Katich run out 22;S Watson c Lara b Taylor 0; A Symonds c D Smith b Bradshaw 8; M Clarke c Gayle b Bradshaw 1; M Hussey not out 109; B Haddin c Taylor b Bravo 70; B Lee not out 1; Extras (b-1 lb-5 w-6) 12; Total (for 6 wickets, 50 overs) 272. Fall of wickets: 1-41 2-42 3-57 4-64 5-104 6-270 Bowling: J Taylor 10 - 0- 53- 1; I Bradshaw 10 - 0- 35- 2; C Gayle 7 -0- 46-0; D Smith 7-0 -38- 0; M Samuels 7- 0 -42- 0; D Bravo 9 -1- 52- 2.

West Indies

C Gayle c Hussey b Watson 79; S Chanderpaul c Haddin b Lee 0; R Sarwan c Haddin b Bracken 25; B Lara c Hussey b Lee 88; D Bravo not out 37; W Hinds c Haddin b Lee 1; M Samuels run out 0; D Smith b Symonds 4; C Baugh not out 7 Extras (lb-5 nb-11 w-16) 32 Total (for 7 wickets, 47.2 overs) 273 Fall of wickets: 1-12 2-44 3-195 4-242 5-249 6-249 7-255 Bowling: B Lee 10-0-46-3 N Bracken 9-0-31-1 S Clark 7-0-87-0 S Watson 10-0-43-1 A Symonds 5.2-0-27-1 D Cullen 6-1-34-0.