A late comeback, led by the fast bowlers, helped India bowl Australia out for 289 for a 13-run win in the third and final ODI in Canberra on Wednesday. The win helped the tourists end the series on a positive note as Australia clinched it 2-1 after having won the opening two matches in Sydney.
Likewise India, Australia too kept on losing wickets regularly before Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey combined to put their team in control. However, Carey’s suicidal run out in the 38th over gave India an opening.
Glenn Maxwell continued his excellent form as he threatened to take the game away from India, hitting a blistering fifty. However, Jasprit Bumrah had him bowled for 59 in the 45th over to all but end Australia’s hopes of a series whitewash.
Before the see-saw, Shardul Thakur (3/51) had landed a major blow as he removed Steven Smith cheaply on 7 after the Australian was out caught-behind while glancing one that was angled down the legside. Captain Aaron Finch though struck a half-century but fell in the 26th over as India slowly crawled back.
Earlier, Hardik Pandya (92*) recorded his career-best ODI innings as he combined with Ravindra Jadeja (66*) to help India post a challenging 302/5.
The pair switched gears in the final 10 overs clattering boundaries with ease after a slow start that saw India losing wickets regularly. Virat Kohli won the toss and expectedly opted to bat first.
The change of venue brought with itself plenty of changes from either side, not necessarily because of the surface. India made as many as four changes after losing the first two games with significant margins.
Shubman Gill, Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav were given a chance in place of Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal. The out-of-form Navdeep Saini was also dropped as T Natarajan was handed India debut.
Australia made three changes with Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar making their way into the playing XI while pacer Cameron Green made his debut.
India began slow and steady before Abbott outfoxed Shikhar Dhawan (16) with change of pace to have him caught at covers. Gill (33), opening the innings for the first time in ODIs, started well before being out lbw.
India lost both their openers after 82 runs. The start was decent if not blazing.
Captain Kohli and Shreyas Iyer took the innings forward but the latter was dismissed cheaply.
Soon KL Rahul also made his way back to the pavilion leaving Kohli wage a lone battle. He reached a well-made half-century but fell at a time, as was the case with earlier batsmen, when India needed a big partnership.
Kohli was dismissed for the third time in the series by Josh Hazlewood on 63. The push came from the pair of Pandya and Jadeja who added 150 runs for the sixth wicket engineering a late flourish. Pandya struck seven fours and a six while Jadeja belted five fours and three sixes with the pair looting 110 runs in the final 10 overs.
Brief Scores: India 302/5 (Hardik Pandya 92*, Ravindra Jadeja 66*, Virat Kohli 63; Ashton Agar 2/44) beat Australia 289-all out (Aaron Finch 75, Glenn Maxwell 59; Shardul Thakur 3/51) by 13 runs