All the hype and the build-up was nothing short of tempting fate, it appeared. It was almost inevitable, given the frenetic excitement in the lead-up to the first one-dayer, that an anti-climax would eventuate.

A contest set up beautifully by Michael Clarke's wondrous century and the depth of the Australian batting was rudely halted by the elements at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday night. The man they call 'Pup' has graduated from being a mere boy wonder, and he showcased his virtuoso skills with a sublime innings that formed the cornerstone of Australia's 307 for seven in game one of the Future Cup.

India had reached nine for the loss of Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal in 2.4 overs when the skies opened up with a vengeance. The downpour -- with varying degrees of intensity -- lasted more than an hour and a half. Despite the tireless efforts of the ground staff, wet underfoot conditions forced umpires Steve Bucknor and Suresh Shastri to abandon play a little before 10 pm.

Despite Mahendra Singh Dhoni's luck with the toss changing, after five consecutive successes, India appeared well in control of proceedings as they reduced the Aussies to 90 for four in the battle of the World Cup champions. Then, Clarke's brilliance, Brad Haddin's industry and James Hopes' power-hitting catapulted them to an intimidating total on an excellent cricket strip that was only marginally shorn of its grass in the morning.

Having allowed the Aussies to snatch the initiative away, India were in for further disappointment when Sourav Ganguly was unable to take his place at the top of the order, out with an internal injury above the back of his right thigh. In the few minutes of play possible before the skies opened up, the packed stadium was stunned into silence with the sixth-ball dismissal for a duck of Tendulkar, trapped in front by Mitchell Johnson as he played around his front pad.

The first part of Australia's innings was a wonderful tribute to the 50-over game as fortunes fluctuated wildly. Once Haddin linked up with Clarke in the 17th over, it was the Indian bowling that suddenly went wild as Clarke lay into them with ill-concealed glee.

It was here, nearly three years ago, that the right-hander announced his arrival on the Test stage with a magnificent 151 on debut. Perhaps feeding off the feel-good factor emanating from returning to a successful venue, the New South Welshman hit top gear straightaway, busy without being laboured and rapid without flirting with the brutal.

India appeared ill prepared
to deal with Clarke's counter-attack. They had been given a huge shot in the arm by a spectacular effort at point by Yuvraj Singh, diving away to his right goalkeeper style and taking an exceptional overhead catch to see the back of the deadly dangerous Adam Gilchrist. The Australian skipper's dismissal was almost immediately followed by Brad Hodge's scalp as S Sreesanth joined Zaheer Khan in the wicket-taking stakes.

Matthew Hayden and Clarke realised 60 (67b) for the third wicket before the opener and Andrew Symonds both fell in quick succession. Despite the hectic rate of scoring, Australia were losing wickets far too quickly, and despite their inconsistencies with the ball, India kept their noses in front, if only just.

They had an outstanding chance to surge totally into the ascendancy, but their failure to do so was the first indication that the tide was turning and that India were about to fall victims of their own frailties. Having survived a confident shout for leg before off the impressive Irfan Pathan, Clarke went walkabouts. Dhoni had all the time in the world to line up the stumps and knock them down. The Indian captain missed, and Clarke refrained from looking the gift horse in the mouth, kicking on from being 30 then out of 107 for FOur.

Cashing in on lapses in line from Rudra Pratap Singh, Clarke kept picking the boundaries off his pads. Without appearing in the same league, Haddin kept pace with his more accomplished partner, India's bowling lapsing into the ragged and their outcricket sliding dramatically. Singles came far too easily, offie Ramesh Powar struggled to land the ball, and in the bat of an eyelid, the momentum had swung the Aussie way.

A hectic 144 (153b) came for the fifth wicket, and Clarke and Hops provided the piece-de-resistance with 73 (49b) for the sixth. India leaked 124 off the last 15, Sreesanth's fire negated by the profligacy of most of the rest.


SCORE BOARD

AUSTRALIA

Gilchrist c Yuvraj b Zaheer 12
(11b, 2x4)
Hayden b Sreesanth 34
(39b, 5x4, 1x6)
Hodge lbw Sreesanth 0
(5b)
Clarke (run out) 130
(132b, 10x4, 3x6)
Symonds lbw Sreesanth 7
(7b, 1x4)
Haddin st Dhoni b Yuvraj 69
(83b, 7x4, 1x6)
Hopes c Tendulkar b Zaheer 37
(25b, 4x4)
Lee (not out) 0
(0b)
Extras (B-4, LB-1, W-11, NB-2) 18
Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 307
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Gilchrist), 2-18 (Hodge), 3-78 (Hayden), 4-90 (Symonds), 5-234 (Haddin), 6-307 (Hopes), 7-307 (Clarke).
Bowling: Zaheer 10-0-64-2 (w-2, nb-1), Sreesanth 10-0-55-3 (w-6, nb-1), Rudra Pratap Singh 10-0-67-0 (w-2), Pathan 8-0-38-0 (w-1), Powar 6-1-50-0, Yuvraj 6-0-28-1.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 20/2; 10: 56/2; 15: 82/3; 20: 101/4; 25: 130/4; 30: 155/4; 35: 183/4; 40: 220/4; 45: 267/5; end of innings: 307/7 in 50 overs.
Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 56/2; Power Play 2 (three men out): 11-15 overs: 26; Power Play 3: 16-20 overs: 19/1.

INDIA

Gambhir (not out) 4
(10b, 1x4)
Tendulkar lbw Johnson 0
(6b)
Pathan (not out) 0
(0b)
Extras (B-4, W-1) 5
Total (for 1 wkt, 2.4 overs) 9
Fall of wicket: 1-0 (Tendulkar).
Bowling: Lee 1.4-1-4-0, Johnson 1-0-1-1 (w-1).