# 2003–04 Australia Tri-Series

The 2003–04 VB-Series was a cricket tri-series involving touring nations India and Zimbabwe and hosts Australia. Australia won the tournament, who lost one match in the group stage, by defeating India in the 2-match final. Adam Gilchrist was named Man of the Series for his 498 runs at an average of 62.25.

## Group stage
### Table

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | NR/T | BP | CP | Points | NRR |
| 1 | Australia | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 37 | +1.100 |
| 2 | India | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 29 | +0.282 |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 8 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | −1.326 |

#### Key

* BP = Bonus points.
    1 bonus point was awarded to the winning team if their run rate was 1.25x than that of the losing team.
* CP = Consolation points
    1 consolation point was awarded to the losing team if they denied the winning team from receiving the bonus point.

#### Points system

* Won = 5 points
* Lost = 0 points
* Tie or No result = 3 points
* Standard net run rate rules applied.

#### Position deciders

The deciding factors, in order, on table position were:
* Total points
* Games won
* Head-to-head result
* Bonus points
* Net run rate

### Matches
#### Match 1: Australia v India

* 9 January 14:15 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Australia 288 (48.3 overs) | v | India 270 (49 overs) |
| Andrew Symonds 88 (102) Michael Clarke 63 (66) Ajit Agarkar 6/42 (9.3 overs) | | Sourav Ganguly 82 (83) Sachin Tendulkar 63 (69) Ian Harvey 3/52 (10 overs) |
* Australia won by 18 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 63,271 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and Simon Taufel (AUS) Player of the match: Andrew Symonds
Ajit Agarkar recorded his first 5 wicket haul, and his best career ODI figures to date.

#### Match 2: Australia v Zimbabwe

* 11 January 14:15 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Australia 225/8 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 126 (37.3 overs) |
| Andrew Symonds 42 (82) Sean Ervine 3/53 (10 overs) | | Heath Streak 46 (92) Brad Williams 5/22 (8.3 overs) |
* Australia won by 99 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Attendance: 20,538 Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Simon Taufel (AUS) Player of the match: Brad Williams
Brad Williams took his second 5 wicket haul, and recorded his best bowling figures with his 5/22.

#### Match 3: India v Zimbabwe

* 14 January 10:00 (scorecard)
| Zimbabwe 208/6 (50 overs) | v | India 211/3 (37.4 overs) |
| Heath Streak 59* (68) Virender Sehwag 2/40 (10 overs) | | Virender Sehwag 90 (102) Douglas Hondo 1/39 (8 overs) |
* India won by 7 wickets Bellerive Oval, Hobart Attendance: 3,109 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and Peter Parker (AUS) Player of the match: Virender Sehwag

#### Match 4: Australia v Zimbabwe

* 16 January 10:00 (scorecard)
| Australia 344/7 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 196/6 (50 overs) |
| Adam Gilchrist 172 (126) Matthew Hayden 63 (75) Heath Streak 3/50 (10 overs) | | Heath Streak 64* (82) Brett Lee 1/29 (10 overs) |
* Australia won by 148 runs Bellerive Oval, Hobart
* Attendance: 12,715 Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA) Player of the match: Adam Gilchrist
Gilchrist's 172 is his personal highest score in both One Day Internationals and List A cricket. It was also the highest score by a wicket-keeper in ODI cricket until Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 183* in 2005.

#### Match 5: Australia v India

* 18 January 13:15 (D/N) (scorecard)
| India 303/4 (50 overs) | v | Australia 284 (49.4 overs) |
| VVS Laxman 103* (113) Sachin Tendulkar 86 (95) Rahul Dravid 74 (64) Brad Williams 1/40 (8 overs) | | Matthew Hayden 109 (107) Lakshmipathy Balaji 4/48 (10 overs) Irfan Pathan 3/64 (9.4 overs) |
* India won by 19 runs The Gabba, Woolloongabba Attendance: 35,052 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and Peter Parker (AUS) Player of the match: VVS Laxman

#### Match 6: India v Zimbabwe

* 20 January 13:15 (D/N) (scorecard)
| India 255/6 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 231 (47.1 overs) |
| Rahul Dravid 84 (106) Yuvraj Singh 69 (76) Sean Ervine 3/47 (10 overs) | | Sean Ervine 39 (27) Sourav Ganguly 3/55 (10 overs) |
* India won by 24 runs The Gabba, Woolloongabba Attendance: 9,638 Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA) Player of the match: Yuvraj Singh

#### Match 7: Australia v India

* 22 January 14:15 (D/N) (scorecard)
| India 296/4 (50 overs) | v | Australia 225/8 (33.5 overs) |
| Yuvraj Singh 139 (122) VVS Laxman 106* (130) Brett Lee 2/46 (9 overs) | | Adam Gilchrist 95 (72) Sourav Ganguly 3/41 (7 overs) Irfan Pathan 3/51 (7 overs) |
* Australia won by 2 wickets (DL) Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Attendance: 39,088 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and Daryl Harper (AUS) Player of the match: Yuvraj Singh
* Match shortened due to rain; Duckworth-Lewis revised target to win: 225 runs in 34 overs for Australia.

#### Match 8: India v Zimbabwe

* 24 January 13:45 (D/N) (scorecard)
| India 280/7 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 277/6 (50 overs) |
| VVS Laxman 131 (138) Rahul Dravid 56 (72) Rohan Gavaskar 54 (62) Heath Streak 3/53 (10 overs) | | Stuart Carlisle 109 (128) Sean Ervine 100 (100) Ajit Agarkar 3/39 (10 overs) |
* India won by 3 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Attendance: 8,680 Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA) Player of the match: VVS Laxman

#### Match 9: Australia v Zimbabwe

* 26 January 13:45 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Australia 279/7 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 266/8 (50 overs) |
| Michael Bevan 75 (91) Ricky Ponting 63 (71) Heath Streak 3/45 (10 overs) | | Grant Flower 94 (106) Brad Williams 2/38 (8 overs) |
* Australia won by 13 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Attendance: 27,612 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and Steve Davis (AUS) Player of the match: Grant Flower

#### Match 10: Australia v Zimbabwe

* 29 January 14:15 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Australia 263/9 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe |
| Michael Bevan 56 (56) Heath Streak 2/47 (10 overs) | | |
* No result Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 15,218 Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Peter Parker (AUS)
* Match abandoned due to rain.

#### Match 11: Australia v India

* 1 February 10:30 (scorecard)
| India 203 (49 overs) | v | Australia 204/5 (32 overs) |
| Yuvraj Singh 47 (62) Brett Lee 3/22 (10 overs) | | Adam Gilchrist 75 (65) Andrew Symonds 73 (57) Ajit Agarkar 2/56 (9 overs) |
* Australia won by 5 wickets WACA Ground, Perth Attendance: 18,858 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and Daryl Harper (AUS) Player of the match: Adam Gilchrist
* Michael Hussey (Aus) made his ODI debut.

#### Match 12: India v Zimbabwe

* 3 February 12:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Zimbabwe 135 (34.4 overs) | v | India 136/6 (30.3 overs) |
| Stuart Matsikenyeri 36 (46) Irfan Pathan 4/24 (10 overs) Amit Bhandari 3/31 (7.4 overs) | | Hemang Badani 34 (59) Sean Ervine 2/29 (8.3 overs) |
* India won by 4 wickets WACA Ground, Perth Attendance: 4,053 Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Simon Taufel (AUS) Player of the match: Irfan Pathan

## Final series
### First final

* 6 February 14:15 (D/N) Scorecard
| India 222 (49 overs) | v | Australia 224/3 (40.1 overs) |
| Hemang Badani 60* (81) Brett Lee 2/34 (9 overs) | | Ricky Ponting 88 (80) Lakshmipathy Balaji 3/52 (10 overs) |
* Australia won by 7 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 44,737 Umpires: Steve Bucknor (Win) and Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Ricky Ponting (Aus)
* India won the toss and elected to bat.

### Second final

* 8 February 14:15 (D/N) Scorecard
| Australia 359/5 (50 overs) | v | India 151 (33.2 overs) |
| Matthew Hayden 126 (122) Ashish Nehra 2/63 (10 overs) | | Irfan Pathan 30 (41) Brad Williams 2/12 (6.2 overs) |
* Australia won by 208 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Attendance: 39,760 Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA) Player of the match: Matthew Hayden (Aus)
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

## Gallery

* Match 1 at the MCG