Punter's pride in team

Australia captain Ricky Ponting is proud of the way his depleted side has responded to injury setbacks on their tour of India following a convincing six-wicket victory over the hosts in Guwahati that saw the tourists claim the series.

Fast bowler Doug Bollinger claimed a five-wicket haul and Mitchell Johnson chipped in with three scalps as the visitors bowled India out for a paltry 170 in the sixth match of the series.

Shane Watson then struck a run-a-ball 49 as the visitors wrapped up victory with just over eight overs to spare to take an unassailable 4-2 lead ahead of the final match in Mumbai.

Ponting believes the performance of his players augurs well for the World Cup in 2011.

"It's probably one of the best one-day series I have ever been involved in what with all the injuries and setbacks at the start of this tour," Ponting said.

"For the boys to stick together as a group and play as team of 11 players for the last few games has been very satisfying."

"India is a hard place to come and win and this victory means a lot, especially when you haven't got all your players to pick from."

"It makes it even harder when players are getting off planes and turning up and playing."

"No-one's shirking and no-one's whining, we have just got on with it and tried to do the best that we could."

"With each game that we have played, we have just gotten better and better so its really good signs for the team."

"Some of the younger guys have come into the team and have got a few games under their belt."

"They have been building experience towards the World Cup in 2011 and I think they will have learnt a lot from this tour."

The victory in Guwahati was Australia's third in a row and came on the heels of close-contests in Mohali and Hyderabad, the visitors overturning a 2-1 deficit after India claimed convincing wins of its own in games two and three.

Ponting admitted that the difference in the sides was the fielding.

"The bowlers obviously led the way today, Johnson and Bollinger were outstanding upfront," he said.

"Once we got those four or five wickets we were always in control of the game."

"But our fielding has been great. We talk about it a lot around our team and pride ourselves on the way we field."

"Quite often in close games it's the fielding which is the difference between the teams."

"We've had a four-run win (Vadodara) and a three-run win (Hyderabad) in this series and some of the great fielding that we have had in this series has gone a long way in helping us win."

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted the loss of early wickets had ruined his team's chances.

"At the toss, I believed the first half hour would be crucial, but as it turned out 15 minutes was all that was needed," he said.

"We were never in the game after we lost those wickets in the morning and we were fortunate to reach 170."

"I think they bowled really well and although we could have batted second we would have been facing their spinners on a wearing pitch."

"Australia have taken the game away from us in close matches in Vadodara, Mohali and Hyderabad."

"We made a few mistakes and ended up losing matches which should have won."

"In a series like this, it's hard to make a comeback once that happens."