MADRAS, India, March 19 (AFP) - Australian captain Steve Waugh fell to a rare dismissal in cricket Monday when he was out handling the ball during the final Test against India here.

Waugh was dismissed in the day's sixth over when he palmed off the ball with his right hand as it appeared to be going towards the stumps following an attempted sweep off spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Indian umpire Avi Jayaprakash, who had rejected the Indian appeal for leg-before, raised his finger as soon as the incident occured.

Unfortunately for Harbhajan, the laws of the game do not credit such a dismissal to the bowler, otherwise he would have finished with eight wickets in the innings.

The 20-year-old, whose 13-wicket haul in the Calcutta Test last week enabled India to level the series 1-1, finished with seven for 133 in Australia's first innings score of 391.

It was only the sixth instance in Test cricket, and the first since Graham Gooch of England was dismissed at Old Trafford in 1993, that a batsman was given out handling the ball.

Waugh's unusual dismissal triggered a collapse in which Australia lost their last seven wickets in the space of 51 runs after being comfortably placed at 340-3.

Batsmen out handling the ball in Test cricket:

- Russel Endean (South Africa) v England, 1956-57

- Andrew Hilditch (Australia) v Pakistan, 1978-79

- Mohsin Khan (Pakistan) v Australia, 1982-83

- Desmond Haynes (West Indies) v India, 1983

- Graham Gooch (England) v Australia, 1993

- Steve Waugh (Australia) v India, 2001