India might have lost the third ODI and the series against Australia despite a scintillating ton from Virat Kohli in Melbourne but the right-hander had a moment that trumped the hosts. This time it was Virat Kohli’s century that set up India’s innings, but their bowlers were again unable to restrain Australia.
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Out-of form opener Shikhar Dhawan, who got dismissed cheaply in the first two ODIs, managed to contribute significant 68 runs before being dismissed by John Hastings. In reply, Australia never looked in trouble as they knocked off the required runs with 1.1 overs still remaining. It was the latter, with an unusually uneventful 96 from 83 balls, that steered Australia home with three wickets and seven balls in hand in front of a India-dominated crowd of 47,638 at the MCG.
The 27-year-old Kohli hit a fine 117 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday (January 17) to break Ricky Ponting’s record.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly (174), West Indian legend Brian Lara (183), former Caribbean batsman Desmond Haynes (187), South African great Jacques Kallis (188) and Tendulkar (189) also got the 7000-run mark early in their respective careers, but stand way behind Kohli. And when Matthew Wade (6) holed out against the same bowler in the 39th over, Australia were reduced to 215/6.
To be fair to the visitors, their batsmen did reasonably well, posting totals of 309 and 308 respectively in the first two matches after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat on both occasions.
While Australia made one change to their line-up, bringing all-rounder Mitchell Marsh back in place of Joel Paris, India introduced two debutants in middle-order batsman Gurkeerat Singh and all-rounder Rishi Dhawan. “He scores so fast playing normal cricket shots, he’s got all the shots”.
“If I have my time over again, I may have batted first today”. While they didn’t lose any more wickets, India could only reach 62/1 in the first 15 overs. Ajinkya Rahane, batting at No 4, partnered Kohli with a breezy half century and kept India in the hunt for a 300 plus total.
Smith ran in from long-on and caught it at the edge of the boundary. Rahane fell to one of the athletic fielding feats that appear to be commonplace nowadays.
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Dhoni himself provided most of the hitting power in the final phase, and took India to a competitive score.
