India completed a crushing victory over Australia by a record margin of 320 runs in the second Test on Tuesday to seize a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan grabbed three wickets in four balls, two of them on the trot, and Australia, chasing an improbable victory target of 516 runs, was dismissed for 195 before lunch. It was only Australia's second defeat in 28 Tests since its 2-1 loss in the 2005 Ashes series against England. Both reverses have come against India. “We were outplayed,” Australia captain Ricky Ponting told reporters. “In batting, bowling and probably in fielding as well. They probably played more aggressively than they do. In the second innings they were lot more aggressive. They had good plans and executed them well.” It was India's biggest ever Test win by runs, bettering their 280-run success over South Africa in Kanpur in 1996. India stand-in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hailed the team effort after being named Man of the Match for scoring 92 and 68 not out and claiming three victims behind the stumps as well. “The credit goes to the entire team,” he said. “It was like a perfect scenario once we got off to a good start on a placid pitch.” Zaheer struck in the first over to dismiss Brad Haddin and snuff out any slim Australian hopes of salvaging a draw. Australia vice captain Michael Clarke top-scored with 69 before being the last man out, pulling leg-spinner Amit Mishra to mid-wicket. Mishra finished with a match haul of seven for 106 after claiming five wickets in the first innings on his Test debut. An off-color Australia, reduced to 141 for five overnight, subsided against pace and spin on a slow Mohali pitch. Zaheer struck his first blow when he bowled Haddin on his overnight score of 37 with a perfect off-stump yorker. In the next over, he forced Cameron White (1) to edge a drive to give wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni a low catch and he bowled Brett Lee first ball to be on a hat trick. Clarke, who added 84 runs for the sixth wicket with Haddin, put on another 50 for the ninth with Mitchell Johnson (26) before Mishra had the tail-ender caught and bowled. Harbhajan Singh took five wickets in the match to leave himself one short of becoming the third Indian bowler to claim 300 Test wickets. Sachin Tendulkar claimed the world record for most Test runs and Saurav Ganguly struck 102 in his farewell series to help India amass 469 in their first innings. The third Test starts in New Delhi on Oct. 29. Zaheer fined Zaheer Khan was fined 80 percent of his match fee after being found guilty of a code of conduct breach following the second Test win over Australia on Tuesday. Zaheer, summoned for a disciplinary hearing by International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Chris Broad after the game, pleaded guilty to a level two charge under the code of conduct rules, a statement from the governing body said. Zaheer appeared to say something to opener Matthew Hayden following the batsman's dismissal before tea on Monday. “Clearly, this sort of behavior is not acceptable at any level of cricket - it showed a lack of respect for the player who had been dismissed,” Broad said in the statement. – Reuters __
