India beat Australia after Tendulkar century

By Julian Linden

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Sachin Tendulkar scored a masterly century to lead India to a comfortable six-wicket win over Australia in the first tri-series final on Sunday.

Tendulkar batted through the Indian innings to post an unbeaten 117 off 120 deliveries as the tourists cruised past Australia's 239 for eight with 25 balls to spare at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Rohit Sharma provided valuable support to Tendulkar with an impressive 66 in their fourth wicket partnership of 123 as the Indians drew first blood in the best-of-three finals series.

"The first blow is always extremely important," Tendulkar told a news conference.

"But we can't get too far ahead of ourselves. It's really important we carry this momentum forward."

The Australians were always in trouble after they had to settle for a modest total following a top-order batting collapse.

Opener Matthew Hayden top-scored with 82 and Mike Hussey kept the tail wagging with a watchful 45 but the world champions failed to impose themselves on the Indian bowlers.

"We pride ourselves on the way we prepare and play in finals so I expected a better performance than this," skipper Ricky Ponting said.