A past master and a future star joined hands to produce a happy present on Sunday night; in perfect sync, they powered India to their first win in 12 attempts at the Sydney Cricket Ground over Australia and gave their team a 1-0 advantage in the best of three finals of the triangular series.

Sachin Tendulkar's first one-day hundred on Aussie soil couldn't have been better timed, in every sense of the word. For much of his memorable, near chanceless unbeaten 117 that made him the unanimous choice for the man of the match award, he was kept company by Rohit Sharma, no more than a year old when the maestro made his international debut 19 summers back.

The two Mumbaikars plotted the decisive strike in India's six-wicket conquest of Australia, a triumph achieved in clinical fashion, set up by a professional bowling display and a commanding batting stint with Tendulkar in the forefront.

Australia managed no more than a modest 239 for eight on a reasonably good batting strip, pegged back by Praveen Kumar's early strikes and a wonderful exhibition of controlled, attacking spin bowling from Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla. Sandwiched between India's domination with the ball came a threatening century stand between India-baiters Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds; Harbhajan got his own back against his two principal taunters this summer to sow serious seeds of doubts in Ricky Ponting's men.

The Aussie skipper would have expected a better performance from his batsmen — himself included — after opting to bat first; instead, he watched with mounting frustration as India put on a masterclass in the art of scaling down a target, Tendulkar controlling the run chase during his 42nd hundred and staying unconquered when India reached 242 for four, with 25 deliveries to spare.

This Tendulkar ton wasn't a throwback to the days when he went hard at the bowling early on, then built on his start. Instead, still internally smarting from some of the unwarranted criticism in recent times, the master batted well within himself, making light of a recurring groin niggle and never losing sight of the ultimate goal.

There were moments when he gave vent to innate creativity, like when he swayed his upper body out of the way and cheekily guided Mitchell Johnson over slip, or when he danced down to Brad Hogg and creamed him over covers, inside out. For the most part, though, he constructed rather than amassed; that he did so without sacrificing either the rate of scoring or characteristic poise and grace made this one of his more pleasing — not to mention crucial — contributions in recent times.

Alongside Robin Uthappa, he established a solid platform with a 50-run opening stand. With Rohit for company, he realised 123 (137b) to kill off the game as the contest, the younger man an equal partner in his association with his illustrious senior.

When Rohit walked out to join Tendulkar, India were 87 for three, the game delicately poised. Unfazed by the situation, Rohit set off with a couple of cracking straight drives on the up off Nathan Bracken that would have done the man at the other end proud, then worked the gaps with regularity. Every time India needed a boundary, Rohit invariably came up with the answer. It was the first time the two men — one 34, the other 20 — were batting together for any length of time; by the time Rohit fell with victory in sight, he had impressed the master no end.

Tendulkar's first one-day hundred since January 2007 — after 37 innings, six of which ended in the 90s — sparked as much relief as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's winning runs brought joy. One down, one to go.

Australia were one down early in the afternoon as Praveen struck in his second over, forcing Adam Gilchrist to sky a pull to mid-on. Ponting too fell to the pull, inside-edging, and when Michael Clarke was adjudged caught behind off Ishant Sharma, Australia had their work cut out at 24 for three.

Fortunately for them, Hayden was in the mood. In the middle of an ordinary one-day campaign, the big left-hander exploded as Irfan Pathan felt the heat. Hayden took six fours off the left-arm paceman's first two overs and looked good for plenty alongside Symonds, just warming to the task, when Harbhajan dismissed both in the space of 15 deliveries.

India kept up the pressure and the intensity and the Aussies were left with a less than imposing score to defend.

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA

Gilchrist c Yuvraj b Praveen 7
(7b, 1x4)
Hayden c Chawla b Harbhajan 82
(88b, 10x4)
Ponting b Praveen 1
(5b)
Clarke c Dhoni b Ishant 4
(8b, 1x4)
Symonds c Praveen b Harbhajan 31
(44b, 4x4)
Hussey (run out) 45
(67b, 2x4)
Hopes c Dhoni b Yuvraj 15
(37b, 1x4)
Hogg (not out) 23
(31b)
Lee c Rohit b Pathan 17
(10b, 3x4)
Johnson (not out) 6
(3b)
Extras (B-1, W-7) 8
Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 239
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Gilchrist), 2-19 (Ponting), 3-24 (Clarke), 4-124 (Symonds), 5-135 (Hayden), 6-173 (Hopes), 7-212 (Hussey), 8-231 (Lee). Bowling: Praveen 10-1-49-2 (w-1), Ishant 8-0-32-1 (w-1), Pathan 7-0-63-1 (w-1), Harbhajan 10-0-38-2 (w-2), Chawla 10-0-33-0 (w-2), Yuvraj 4-0-18-1, Rohit Sharma 1-0-5-0.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 23/2; 10: 45/3; 15: 83/3; 20: 111/3; 25: 128/4; 30: 141/5; 35: 155/5; 40: 179/6; 45: 199/6; end of innings: 239/8 in 50 overs.
Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 45/3; Power Play 2: 11-15 overs: 38/0; Power Play 3 (three men out): 16-20 overs: 28/0.

INDIA

Uthappa c Hussey b Hopes 17
(33b, 2x4)
Tendulkar (not out) 117
(120b, 10x4)
Gambhir (run out) 3
(4b)
Yuvraj b Hogg 10
(21b, 1x4)
Rohit b Hopes 66
(87b, 6x4)
Dhoni (not out) 15
(12b, 3x4)
Extras (B-4, LB-2, W-6, NB-2) 14
Total (for 4 wkts, 45.5 overs) 242
Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Uthappa), 2-56 (Gambhir), 3-87 (Yuvraj), 4-210 (Rohit).
Bowling: Lee 9-0-33-0 (w-3, nb-2), Bracken 8-0-42-0, Johnson 10-0-70-0 (w-2), Hopes 8.5-0-42-2, Hogg 7-0-38-1 (w-1), Clarke 3-0-11-0.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 22/0; 10: 45/0; 15: 63/2; 20: 93/3; 25: 116/3; 30: 138/3; 35: 169/3; 40: 204/3; 45: 236/4; end of innings: 242/4 in 45.4 overs.
Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 45/0; Power Play 2: 11-15 overs: 18/2; Power Play 3 (three men out): 16-20 overs: 30/1.