After losing first two ODIs against India, the Australian team led by Steven Smith got down to work for the third ODI of the series as they sweated it out in a gruelling two-hour nets session at Holkar stadium on Saturday morning.
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India have jumped to the top of the ODI rankings for now, overtaking Australia and South Africa, but can still slip to the number-two spot if the visitors win the next two games.
The élan with which Finch batted during his long stint in the morning virtually sealed the doubt over his availability for Sunday’s match, a must-win for Australia for keeping the series alive.
The stage was set for Australia to go for the kill, being placed 234 for two in 40 overs, but they lost Smith and Glenn Maxwell (5) in successive balls.
A docile pitch to deal with, Indian bowlers hardly troubled the Australians as wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav (2/75) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/54) largely remained ineffective.
Riding on Pandya’s 72-ball 78 along with fifties from openers Ajinkya Rahane (70) and Rohit Sharma (71) which witnessed a blistering 139-run partnership, Team India nullified Aaron Finch’s ton and Smith’s fifty to grab the series in their favour.
Rahane soon followed his partner back to the pavilion after Pat Cummins, who was brought back for his second spell, trapped the batsman lbw as Australia tried to check a rampaging India. Australia, however, fought back with couple of quick wickets but Hardik Pandya (78), who was promoted to No.4 position, had other plans as he powered the Men in Blue to a five-wicket victory. “He possesses ability with the bat, ball and in the field as well”.
This will be another feather in the cap of Capitan Virat Kohli who is known for his more aggressive and expressive brand of cricket. The team has just the right combination of attacking and strike rotating batsmen and two brilliant finishers in Dhoni and Pandya. Smith too didn’t look in any sort of bother as Australia amassed 130 runs for the loss of one wicket between overs 15 and 35.
Sharma hit six boundaries and four sixes in his knock. “I thought he played really well today”, Smith said. Pandya obliged and showed gumption for the challenge of steering the team patiently, bringing up his 45-ball half-century in the process.
Jasprit Bumrah (2-52) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-52) put the brakes on the scoring with some exemplary bowling in the death overs. India are not leaking runs but Australia managing to score runs at brisk pace. This was India’s fifth win in as many 50-over games played at the venue. A total in excess of 330 might have been a different result, but credit to India.
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The next match is scheduled for 28 September at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
