The Indians have taken some timid decisions in England during the course of the World Cup. Luckily for them, they were covered up by the superb Indian revival and some exceptional individual displays.

The first decision of the kind was to put the then phenomenally successful opener in one-dayers, Sachin Tendulkar, at number four. Yesterday, in an effort to correct that, they made a brave move to put the master back where he really belongs. India had won their last three games by batting first. Why in heavens would you want to change the winning pattern? There wasn't enough in the Oval wicket to get the Indians to start on a different note. I do feel it was to protect Tendulkar. In thesame breath, let's not take away any credit from the Aussies. They outplayed their opponents in all facets of the game.

Thus the dream run of the Indians after their first two reversals in the tournament came to a crashing end here at The Oval. The Australians inflicted the same kind of pain on the Indians, which the Indians were inflicting on their opponents in the last three games in this World Cup. An emphatic win for the Australians and, in the process, seriously damaging India's chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

India now have only a very remote chance of going a step further, even if they win the next two matches in the Super Six. The Indian team played some brilliant cricket in the late league stage to come second in Group A. They needed to continue with the same level of performance to stay afloat, such is the points system in the tournament.

To expect four match-winning efforts on the trot from the Indians, known least for consistency, was always going to be unrealistic. But most willagree the Indians did nothing yesterday to justify the expectations with which they came into this match against Australian. Any spectator who came to the ground after lunch would be forgiven for thinking that he was watching Test Cricket in coloured clothing. Here was a sight of Mcgrath bowling to an Indian batsman at one stage with four slips and a gully. I was privileged to see one of the most memorable spells of fast bowling and that coming in a one-day match was the amazing bit. The Indians gave Mcgrath, the best bowler now in the world, the advantage of knowing that his team had a match-winning total on the board.

I am absolutely certain Mcgrath would not have been half the bowler this morning. Two simple words that make Mcgrath such a potent weapon -- straight and fast. A combination that gets most batsmen in trouble, more so the top players. Mcgrath has a good record against the great Lara. Yesterday, he started on a winning note against another great, Tendulkar. The Mcgrath spell, apart from thewreckage he exacted of the Indian batting, also brought to light the inadequacy of the Indian seamers on a wicket that affected pace and bounce.

The Indian new ball bowlers clearly looked to be trying too much. Mohanty was caught on a wicket which could give him only pace and bounce. Seam is what he needs to be wicket-taking. There was none of that here at The Oval. Mohanty's failure put additional burden on the rest. Mohanty's early success with the new ball was instrumental in India's wins over Kenya, Sri Lanka and England.

When the Australians put on 97 for the first wicket, the biggest opening partnership versus India in the World Cup, things did quite start on a customary note for Azharuddin. After that, nothing much went the Indian way. Indian batting collapsed under the weight of the score of 282 and the one-man demolition squad named Glenn Mcgrath. Runs came in ruins for Indian vice-captain Ajay Jadeja. With everything crumbling around him, Jadeja played a gem of an innings.

Sad day for theIndians. It really was a do or die match for our national team. To their misfortune, they were playing against a team that is peaking at the right time. The Australians, after this performance once again look at their formidable best. If the South Africans were watching this match, they will a be worried lot, as the Aussies are the only ones who have convincingly established their supremacy over them in the past.

For the Indians, no happy memories from the encounter apart from Jadeja's effort and yes, they will take some solace from the fact that they made sure not everyone in the Australian dressing room will be celebrating.