Centurion, Sept. 28: The rain gods threw India a lifeline, halting their do-or-die Group A match against Australia in the 2009 Champions Trophy league at the SuperSport Park here on Monday.

The torrential downpour, which would not have been out of place in Cherrapunjee, flooded the playing area especially along the boundaries with Australia marooned at 234/4 in 42.3 overs and no chance of play resuming under crashing thunder and flickering lightning around Centurion.

Umpires Billy Bowden and Ian Gould finally called off play deeming this match a no-result to gave India their first point in this championship.

It also leaves them praying that weather will not interrupt Australia’s last league against Pakistan here in Centurion, and that the latter keep a clean slate.

That will leave India the task of beating the West Indies at the Wanderers and the advantage that since it is the very last league game, they will have a target to aim at in terms of run-rate. All rather complicated, but the essential prerequisite now is for Pakistan to beat the Aussies.

Earlier, rain halted Australia’s progress even as they prepared for one final assault, halting the match with 19 minutes left on the clock to the close of the innings.

Riding on half-centuries from opener Tim Paine (56), skipper Ricky Ponting (65) and Mr Cricket, Mike Hussey (67), Australia were 234/4 in 42.3 overs when increasingly heavy rain sent the players off the park.

While the forecast for the day had suggested some likelihood of rain, the clouds started to darken almost as soon as play got under way and lightening had started to flash more and more often when the rain hit. On a pitch that took turn and had decidedly odd bounce, Australia had posted a testing total, at 5.5 runs per over.

Cameron White (35, 30b, 2x4, 1x6) and new man Callum Ferguson were at the crease when play was halted.

It was really the run-out of Ponting that gave the Indians an opportunity to put the reins on the galloping score. With Hussey, he had put on 88 runs in a little more than 16 overs and effectively threatened to seal the game when Gautam Gambhir struck.

Hussey had played the ball towards midwicket and Gambhir was off the fence in a flash. Ponting (88, 4x4, 1x6) sensed the danger midway through his second run and lunged, but was caught short of his ground.

Till then, the Australia skipper had played an innings of fluency marked by powerful drives. Though he had only four boundaries and an on-driven six off Praveen Kumar, the pace between the wickets of both batsmen kept the Indians under pressure all the way through their partnership that stretched from the seventh to the 33rd over.

India had started well, the wicket of Shane Watson in Nehra’s second over. It was a near-repeat of Saturday’s first wicket, the batsman going for a pull and top-edging to Harbhajan at midwicket. Paine’s counter-attack then left the Indians reeling. He first blasted Nehra through the covers and then tucked into the wayward Ishant Sharma. The off-colour seamer’s first over went for 16 runs and he was never in the game at any stage.

Bowling first-change clearly does not suit Ishant, who just wants to bowl fast and is instead been squeezed into a role conceptualised by the skipper and think tank that cramps his desire for speed at probably the wrong time in his career.

Paine (56, 58b, 7x4, 1x6) raced to his 50 from 51 balls having attacked every bowler to get a go though Ishant felt the last of his punishing blade the most before he top-edged a sweep against Amit Mishra and was comfortably taken by Harbhajan at midwicket,

After Ponting’s departure, Australia took the batting powerplay almost immediately, the stint producing 44 runs as Cameron White in particular unleashed some big blows including a six off Mishra off the very last PP ball. Ironically, Hussey (67, 65b, 5x4) fell to the very first ball after the powerplay, lofting the luckless Ishant straight to Sachin Tendulkar on the long-on fence. By then, he had more than fulfilled his role as a busy run-accumulator, leaving an ideal platform behind for the final assault.

Earlier, India dropped Rudra Pratap Singh and Yusuf Pathan, opting for Mishra’s leg-spin and seamer Praveen Kumar.