Michael Clarke strain stability

Australia 333 & 240 (Hussey 89, Ponting 60, Yadav 4-70) beat India 282 & 169 (Pattinson 4-53, Siddle 3-42) by 122 runs


Australia captain Michael Clarke praised his team's inspiring first Test win over India - and then told them he wants more.

Australia clinch a 122-run success after their quick’s again tore throughout a star-studded India batting line-up on day four at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Man-of-the-match James Pattinson led the way, in just his third Test, with second-innings figures of four for 53 as India were bowled out for 169 in two sessions.

It ensured Australia will head to Sydney next week full of self-confidence and Clarke has told his team they must cash in.

Australia has not won back-to-back Test matches since the tour of New Zealand almost two years ago, while they have not won two Tests in any of the six series since.

It is a trend Clarke is strong-minded to end as his side looks to show the potential they have begun to display since he took over as captain earlier this year.

"Consistency is what I've spoken about in the past," Clarke said. "There’s a period all through that game where we didn't carry out as well as we'd like, so we need to look to get better that come Sydney.

"When you're on top you need to make the most of that. I think we did that actually well with the ball, and we fight really hard with the bat on Day 3 and again on Day 4.

"It surely is a time to enjoy this success, this first Test match, but once tonight's gone it is about re-assessing, working out how we can get better and go out all guns blazing in Sydney and try to win another Test match."

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni believe his side will react in Sydney, but admitted his batsmen will need to improve if they are to level the four-match series.

"It's a long series which gives you the chance to come back," he said. "We need to score more runs. Otherwise, it would be very hard for us to win. "We need to apply ourselves a lot more. And if we do that I have no uncertainty that we would come back strongly."

Dhoni established plenty of criticism for letting Australia's lower order score easy runs in both innings, particularly on Day 4 when last pair Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus shared a 43-run stand that kept the visitors chasing leather for 45 minutes.

Dhoni admit the team needed to improve its strategy when bowling to the tail.
"The bowlers bring us back in to the game. We were short by 50-odd runs in the first innings," he said.

"Their lower order scored some runs, if we had got them earlier, we would have had 50-60 runs less to chase. "We need to find a way to get the lower order out cheaply."

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