Australia beat India by 337 runs in 1st test

An abject capitulation by the Indian batsmen saw the visitors crashing to a humiliating 337-run defeat with more than one day to spare as Australia took a 1-0 lead in the four-test cricket series here today.

Chasing an improbable target of 499, India were all out for a paltry 161 runs with only V V S Laxman (42) and Sourav Ganguly (40) putting up some semblance of a fight on a deteriorating MCG track.

This was Australia's 15th consecutive test victory, and the side under Ricky Ponting now moves to Sydney for the second test against India starting January 2 with a distinct psychological edge over the visitors.

Resuming on the overnight score of six for no loss, India lost wickets at regular intervals, and lack of partnerships meant they never came anywhere close to achieving the target set by the hosts.

India lost two wickets in the morning and three in the post-lunch session to see the top half of the batting order being blown away for just 125. That put paid to their hopes of a miracle and Australia never relaxed their grip throughout the match.

Mitchell Johnson (3-21) turned out to be the most successful bowler, while Brad Hogg (2-51) and Brett Lee (2-43) also had their share of the spoils.

(Reporting by Ashish Shukla)