INDIA proved everyone wrong by winning an amazing match..!!!!

No overseas team, barring legendary Caribbean sides, had won in Perth since 1985-86, and given what transpired in Sydney a fortnight ago, India's convincing 72-run victory at the WACA will surely go down as their finest Test win. An entertaining ninth-wicket partnership between Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark gave a 16,000-strong crowd plenty of merriment, but it proved to have only nuisance value as India ended Australia's stunning 16-match streak.

Michael Clarke had been the boy on the burning deck, but with Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist back in the pavilion, the good ship was always destined for the ocean floor. And when Clarke gave Anil Kumble the charge and was beaten in the flight, it was as good as over. His 81 had spanned just 134 balls and included some majestic drives, but when he departed, he took any lingering Australian hope with him.

Johnson and Clark thought differently though. They weren't about to die wondering, and a partnership that contained more agricultural mows than a harvest season gave Kumble and the Indians more than a bit of grief. The 73-run stand at nearly a run a ball had everything - fours, huge sixes, miscued hooks falling short of fielders and even Johnson being bowled off a no-ball.