Faced with chasing an Australian record 359 for five on Sunday, India buckled under the pressure of a long and gruelling tour to finish with a paltry 151 off just 33.2 overs, giving Australia an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the best of three finals series.

The result was a bitterly disappointing end to an otherwise successful Indian tour which saw them unlucky to only draw the Test series 1-1 against Australia and play highly-competitively in the early one-day series matches.

Australia, the world champions, proved they are still without peer in the one-day game when opener Matthew Hayden set them up with a masterful 126 off 122 balls.

A solid 67 by Damien Martyn and an astonishing middle-order stand by Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke which yielded 99 runs off 47 balls followed and by the end of the innings there was little doubt that the tri-nation championship would be theirs.

It was the highest score ever made in a one-day match in Australia and equalled Australia's best score of 359 for two in the World Cup final against India in South Africa last year.

The Indians, who had seemed tired and restless in the lead-up to the finals series after a long and arduous 10-week tour, had already suffered a humiliating seven-wicket loss in the opening match of the finals series in Melbourne on Friday.

The third match scheduled for Brisbane on Tuesday will not now be played.

In the end, Australia's victory was one of the most lopsided in the annals of the game, being the eighth biggest in one-day history.

Australia's huge tally means that three of their best five scores in one-day history have now come against India in the past year.

In total, the home team won five of the six matches against India in the triangular-series this summer and under skipper Ricky Ponting, Australia has beaten India in 11 of 13 matches over the past year.

Hayden set the scene on Sunday with his powerful 126 which included 11 fours and three sixes before he was bowled by Sachin Tendulkar, attempting to reverse a straightforward delivery.

While that knock was impressive, Symonds and Clarke took the game to another level when they brazenly carved out 99 runs in the dying stages as India's bowlers were exposed.

Captain Saurav Ganguly was at his wits' end trying to find someone to stem the flood of runs as Symonds improvised his way to 66 off 39 balls and Clarke hit 33 not out off 20 balls.

India, despite a six from Virender Sehwag from the first ball of the game off the bowling of Jason Gillespie, never got to grips with the run-chase.

Both Sehwag and Tendulkar fell to a legside trap, with Lee taking two excellent catches off Gillespie before removing the dangerous VVS Laxman caught and bowled for just five.

Rahul Dravid's run-out, executed by a rejuvenated Damien Martyn, and Ganguly's tame dismissal, caught by Symonds off Ian Harvey, sunk India to 56 for five and effectively ended the contest.

For Australia, it was a timely return to their world championship form ahead of the Sri Lankan tour which starts on Friday.