Visakhapatnam: Virat Kohli made a strong statement of intent and overshadowed Michael Clarke's fifth One-day century with his match-winning 118 (121b, 11x4, 1x6) that gave India a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The young Indian No. 3 proved with his third ODI ton that he is adept at handling situations, the kind India were in on Wednesday.

That was after Australia overcame a sedate start through Clarke's resilience and Cameron White's aggression to post a challenging 289 for three in the first day-nighter at the ACA-VDCA Stadium that witnessed two innings of similar patterns - both No. 3s slammed centuries and No. 5s played knocks of blinding intensity - and India, at 292 for five, finished better than Australia after deciding to chase. The last 10 overs of the Australian innings yielded 114 runs and the last five 84 runs as Vinay Kumar - whose last two overs cost 40 runs - bore the brunt of White's punishing blade. The Australian scored 64 of the 84 made in the last five overs and the unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 129 runs meant Australia's finish was better than their start after being put in.

With Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra giving nothing away, and offie R Ashwin equally good at stifling the opposition - Praveen and Ashwin, though, did not complete their quota of 10 overs - and comeback man Yuvraj Singh making it tough for the visitors, it was slow going for Australia. It didn't help their cause that openers Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine perished cheaply, frustrated as they were into long periods of inactivity by the Indian bowlers, but skipper Clarke, who scored an unbeaten 111 (139b, 7x4, 1x6) found an able ally in Mike Hussey. The two senior pros realized 144 for the third wicket (172b) before Hussey fell for 69 (77b, 7x4). From 160 for three at that stage, Australia went into overdrive with White at his punishing best; his unbeaten 89 (49b, 6x4, 6x6) putting more than what India wanted to have on their plate.

To make it worse for the hosts, Shikhar Dhawan had a forgettable debut, cleaned up second ball by Clint McKay and Murali Vijay flattered to deceive, feathering a touch to keeper Paine, also off McKay. Yuvraj, though, was so meticulous that he ran many of his singles on the adjacent wicket in order to counter the problems arising out of left-right partnerships and along with Kohli ensured the run-rate never slackened; in fact India were always ahead of the Aussies right through the innings. The duo got 137 runs for the hosts with their third-wicket partnership and by the time Yuvraj fell for 58 (87b, 5x4), India were well and truly on course.