India has won the VB one-day tri-series after defeating Australia 2-0 in the best of three finals series which also effectively ends Adam Gilchrist's International cricket career.

The jubilant Indians finished their controversial tour in triumph with a nail-biting nine-run win at the Gabba to send Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist into retirement in defeat.

A career-best 63 from James Hopes ensured the second final went down to the wire with the home side needing 13 off the last over but he fell on the third last ball.

Instead of a fitting one-day farewell for retiring wicketkeeper Gilchrist, it was controversial spinner Harbhajan Singh who laughed last and loudest.

Australia's loss saw them crashing out of the best-of-three finals series in straight sets for the second consecutive season as they never fully recovered from another top-order collapse in chasing India's 9-258.

Gilchrist lasted just three balls, walking for two after edging behind rookie Praveen Kumar in the first over, in his final international match.

Swing discovery Kumar (4-46) proved the destroyer with the man-of-the-match reducing Australia to 3-32, before a fightback by fishing mates Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.

But just when the Queenslanders had got back on level ground with an freewheeling 89-run stand, Harbhajan undid both within three balls.

Hayden (55 off 68) walked off giving Symonds a gob-ful after a mid-pitch mix-up which finished with Harbhajan running out the opener.

Two balls later, India celebrated like they had the series wrapped up when the spinner trapped Symonds (42 off 56) plumb leg before.

"I just felt that (Symonds) wicket would mean we would be left one wicket short at the end, and that's how it worked out," lamented skipper Ricky Ponting, whose poor form continued with another failure.

After an intense summer full of controversy and distractions, Ponting declared there were no excuses for his team who "stumbled at the last hurdle" like they did against England last season.

He believed Australia may have to re-think their approach to future one day tournaments after finishing the tri-series with three straight losses.

"There would be a lot of teams lining up to play against us the way we've played the last two games," he said.

Symonds' innings included a rib-rattling shoulder charge of a streaker just after he came to the crease with his team in dire straits.

It's unlikely the all-rounder, an avid rugby league fan, will find himself in hot water for the pole-axing.

The shoulder charge came hours after a frustrated Michael Clarke crash tackled the in-form Sachin Tendulkar when the opener inadvertently prevented him fielding a shot off his own bowling.

A second streaker invaded the ground when Mike Hussey and Hopes were mounting a second rescue mission, entering the field from long-off behind Harbhajan who immediately complained to umpire Simon Taufel.

The distraction also got the better of Hussey (44 off 42) who edged behind Shantha Sreesanth that over to end their 76-run stand when 60 were needed off 48 balls.

Looking to send the finals series to a decider in Adelaide, Hopes kept the home side in the hunt until the final over.

In what is likely to be the last triangular series, Australia's failure marks the first time in 23 years the host nation has been knocked out of back-to-back tournaments.

After winning the toss and batting, India were eying a 300-plus total with first-final hero Tendulkar (91 off 121 balls) in control at 2-175 in the 35th over.

But part-time spinner Clarke (3-52) was the surprise innings-turner for the world champions before player of the series Nathan Bracken (3-31) followed up.

India's title win justified the omissions of veterans Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.

"It's very important because I believe this is a building stage of my team because of our youngsters," said Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

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