Brisbane: The three-month long tour Down Under could not have ended on a better note for India.

The visitors created history by notching up their first-ever cricket tri-series title on Australian soil, beating the hosts by nine runs on Tuesday to win the best-of-three finals series 2-0 in the Commonwealth Bank one-day series.

Sachin Tendulkar scored a superb 91 and Man of the Match Praveen Kumar went on to capture four wickets as the tourists followed up Sunday’s six-wicket win in Sydney with a thrilling victory at the Gabba.

The Indians had made the tri-series finals in 1986, 1992 and 2004 but had never managed to win a single match.

The Australians, who also lost last year’s tri-series finals to England, recovered from a terrible start to give themselves a glimmer of hope when James Hopes (63) and Matthew Hayden (55) made half-centuries, only to come up short.

Tendulkar just missed out on back-to-back centuries after helping India post 258 for nine after they won the toss and batted first. He followed up his unbeaten hundred in Sydney with a patient display to set India on the road to victory.

The tourists were heading for a much bigger total when Tendulkar and Robin Uthappa (30) piled on 94 for the first wicket before Australia’s bowlers struck back.

THE LAST OVER

49.1 Pathan to Hopes, 1 run, an attempted big drive, and an outside edge loops over to a very wide third man. Bracken to face.
49.2 Pathan to Bracken, OUT, full delivery comes in slow on off, Bracken swipes it up to midwicket where Chawla takes it over his head on the second attempt.
49.3 Pathan to Hopes, 2 runs, swinging yorker dug out to long-off.
49.4 Pathan to Hopes, OUT, outside off and Hopes drives it up to Chawla at mid-on and India win!