The Mitchell Johnson ball that dismissed Mahendra Singh Dhoni was an ideal delivery to a left-hander - it pitched on an awkward length, moved away off the seam and drew the batsman into a stroke. Unfortunately Dhoni is a right-hander. It didn't matter; Dhoni tried to fend the ball to the leg side and feathered it to Adam Gilchrist. Johnson's third wicket had come with one of his least dangerous balls of the innings. Sometimes it's just your day.

And that is fair enough, as Johnson has endured plenty of occasions when it hasn't been his day. He was no more than a footnote in Australia's Ashes and World Cup triumphs; now he seems intent on writing his own chapter in Australian cricket's future. His 5 for 26 on what most experts tipped as a belter at Vadodara confirmed what good judges have been saying for years - Johnson is a star on the rise.

He hurtled through the Indian middle order after two wickets fell in Brett Lee's opening over and finished with the best figures by an Australian in an ODI in India. He bowled quick, although the slowish pitch didn't let him reach top speed, but it was his control and single-minded objective to keep collecting victims that impressed the most.

Johnson shone in the ICC World Twenty20 and used the opening four games in India to build to this crescendo. The timing of his form spike is impeccable. Australia's home campaign begins in less than a month with a Test against Sri Lanka at Brisbane. Johnson knows the Gabba well and he has a compelling argument for a home Test debut, especially with Shaun Tait still recovering from elbow surgery.

Should the selectors agree, Johnson will at least be familiar with the process. He spent all five Ashes Tests last summer as Australia's 12th man, watching as Lee, Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark carried the pace attack in the whitewash. That was followed by an extended holiday in the Caribbean as he became a spectator in another whitewash, overlooked for every match.

Lest anyone mistake him for one of the support staff due to his permanent place in the dressing-room, Johnson took another overseas trip during Australia's off-season to bolster his armoury at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. The work began to pay off in South Africa, where he took eight economical Twenty20 wickets.

The challenge will be to transfer his form into the Test arena if the opportunity arises. While Tait and Clark have both been used at Test level, the selectors for a long time kept Johnson ahead of that handy pair in the ODI squad. His first limited-overs five-wicket haul has shown there was reason behind their faith. Johnson was especially troubling against India's left-handers, controlling his outswing and subtle movement off the pitch and enticing edges behind from Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and Murali Kartik.

His simple system also worked against the right-handers, as Robin Uthappa found when he was trapped lbw by a ball that angled across him and straightened sharply. Johnson's dominance was especially impressive on a red, dusty pitch that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Australian outback. His speed was still lively - he hovered in the low 140kph region - and he persistently banged the ball hard in the right areas.

It helped having a dangerous companion at the other end. Lee has made a terrific comeback from the serious ankle injury that kept him out of the World Cup. With the retirement of McGrath, he is now Australia's No. 1 strike bowler. His outswing has been masterful this series, especially at Chandigarh where he initially made Sachin Tendulkar look clueless. Lee is still capable of pushing into the upper 150kph vicinity but at Vadodara he proved his danger at a lower velocity. Rahul Dravid fell to a straight one that rapped his pads and left India 5 for 2; later Tendulkar edged a perfect outswinger to Gilchrist for 47.

With Tait, Clark and the promising Ben Hilfenhaus also competing for places, the initial signs from Lee and Johnson bode well for the post-McGrath period. This time they were helped by some sharp, age-defying wicketkeeping by Gilchrist, who also muscled into batting form with 79 - including three clean sixes off one Kartik over - as Australia cruised to the target of 149.

Lee and Gilchrist contributed a couple of chapters but the chief author of this success story was Johnson, who Dennis Lillee described nearly a decade ago as a "once in a generation bowler". Since that time Johnson has been pencilled in to Australia's long-term plans. At last he has started writing his tale - boldly, and in permanent marker.

Johnson and Gilchrist combine to flatten India

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

October 11, 2007

25.5 overs Australia 149 for 1 (Gilchrist 79*) beat India 148 (Tendulkar 47, Johnson 5-26) by 9 wickets

If this was a final, as Ricky Ponting wanted his side to view the fifth one-dayer in Vadodara, it was reminiscent of the hopelessly one-sided conclusion to the World Cup in 1999. Mahendra Singh Dhoni let out a big smile at the toss, with the crowd cheering as if the result was a foregone conclusion, but trudged away in the knowledge that his side could no longer win the series. Even drawing level from here will take some getting.

The distinctly brick-red surface, one that demanded application, was to leave India's batsmen ashen faced. A combination of injudicious shot-selection, accurate new-ball bowling, efficient left-arm pace and outstanding wicketkeeping is often a recipe for a lop-sided contest. It resulted in India's lowest home total against Australia. In fact the game was up much earlier; spectators leaving the ground after 25 overs of the game realised as much.

Adam Gilchrist imposed himself on the series with his allround brilliance. He equalled his record for the most dismissals in an ODI, including two sensational one-handed takes, before rattling off a 77-ball 79 as Australia cantered to a nine-wicket win. Chasing 149 was always going to be a doddle, even though India tried their bit by opening the bowling with Harbhajan Singh's offspin, and Australia faced little trouble in reaching the target just after the halfway mark. Gilchrist's four towering sixes rubbed salt into India's wounds and one hopes youngsters watching his brutal assault on Murali Kartik did so with parental supervision.

He was invaluable behind the stumps too, making amends for his poor showing in Chandigarh with a wicketkeeping display straight out of the Ian Healy manual. He was alert to an inside edge from Yuvraj Singh, stooping to his right and pouching a single-handed take, before snapping up a leg glance from Dhoni, this time throwing himself headlong to the left and clasping on to a chance. Both instances demanded quicksilver reflexes and his reaction underscored the extent to which Australia raise their game when it really matters.

India's innings resembled an automobile ignition on a wintry morning. On a ground where the average total hovers around 280, it soon emerged that the pitch wasn't the subcontinental shirtfront that everyone expected. Brett Lee's first over saw a couple of deliveries that died on the batsmen, short-length deliveries often came with a spongy bounce and it was clear the strip wasn't conducive for hitting through the line.

Johnson, ending with five wicket for the first time in an international, prospered by keeping things simple and had Gilchrist to thank for four of his dismissals (another arrived through a poor umpiring decision). Unlike in Chandigarh, where he came on first-change, he was asked to share the new ball and thrived in Lee's company. Johnson didn't rattle with pace or swing, instead he nagged away outside off and troubled with minimal movement off the pitch. He appeared to have assessed the pitch early, unlike some of India's batsmen, and deserved his best international figures.

India paid for some indiscreet strokeplay after failing to read the surface. Sourav Ganguly's early run out, when Sachin Tendulkar didn't respond to a risky single, started the slide and there was hardly any time to recover. Rahul Dravid's struggles continued with a first-ball duck, rooted to the crease and beaten by a Lee inswinger, while Robin Uthappa, confidently punching during his brief stay, was unlucky to be adjudged leg before to a ball striking him outside off and heading past the off stump.

Tendulkar, honoured before the game for reaching 400 ODIs, briefly promised a classic but he didn't have much of an answer to a ferocious away-cutter from Lee, a candidate for the ball of the series, that breached his defences. Lee produced the killer blow when he returned for his second spell in the 26th over. The good-length ball swung in, gripped the pitch, and moved away just enough to beat Tendulkar and had him edge a simple catch to Gilchrist behind the stumps.

The hopeless situation didn't deter RP Singh and Zaheer Khan. They handled the lack of pace sensibly and their 41-run stand proved that runs could be scored if one waited for the right ball. Eventually it was a case of too little too late; India's story in the next two games might just follow a similar theme.