Winning the toss and batting, India reached 5/311 by stumps on the opening day. India were bowled out for 469 on the second day, after Ganguly scored his 16th and last Test century. Hayden was bowled for a third-ball duck, while Ponting was trapped lbw by a Sharma off cutter for five, as Australia collapsed to 5/58 and then 8/144 in their first innings reply. Shane Watson and Brett Lee combined for 73 eight wicket partnership, helping Australia reach a meagre 268. In the home-side's second innings, Ponting was criticised for using part-timers against the free-scoring Indian batsmen after he was informed that he was five overs behind the required over rate, which is penalisable by a fine, or in severe instances, a ban to the captain. This meant that he was not able to use pace spearhead Brett Lee significantly.Ponting and Armstrong (2009), pp. 26–29. A long discussion between Lee and Ponting prompted media allegations of a team rift, something Ponting denied. "It seems like there are people trying to make a bit more of that than what it actually was," Ponting said after his team's defeat. "I made Brett aware he wasn't going to bowl first-thing in the morning. I let him know we were wanting to take pace off the ball." Where it fell down a bit is I didn't communicate those reasons to Brett at 11am when he wanted to bowl. I made it clear to him from that moment on of those reasons." After India declared on 3/314 with just over four sessions of play remaining, Australia were bowled out for 195 on the fifth morning, with Ponting's off stump knocked out of the ground by another Sharma off cutter for just 2, as India completed a 320 run victory.
