India clinch the series with an emphatic 7 wicket win in the 3rd ODI

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Picture Courtsey: Hindustan Times

The Indian Cricket Team clinched the One-day international series with an emphatic 7 wicket win in the 3rd and deciding match played at M Chinnswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday.

Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami looked wayward in first two overs with wide balls. Shami provided the breakthrough for India dismissing the dangerous Warner cheaply for 3. Navdeep Saini was bought into the attack and bowled stump to stump. A miscommunication between Steve Smith and Aaron Finch result in Finch’s run out which put Australian team under pressure. At the end of 10 overs, Australia were 56 for 2.

After the power play overs, Smith and Labuschagne played with positive intent taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries. Jadeja bowled tight line and lengths which created pressure on Australian batsmen but Kuldeep conceded runs. Smith impressed with his stroke play and reached his fifty off 63 balls. Labuschagne impressed in his 2nd ODI which looked to take the game away by completing his half-century off 60 balls. As things looked dangerous for India, Virat Kohli produced a brilliant catch to dismiss Labuschagne for 54. Labuschagne and Smith added 127 runs for the 3rd wicket. Ravindra Jadeja got the wicket of Mitchell Starc in the same over to put pressure on Australian batting line up.

Alex Carey came to the crease and struggled against Ravindra Jadeja. After that he stroke some lovely boundaries. Smith took singles giving strike to Carey. As another partnership was developing, Kuldeep Yadav struck to dismiss Carey. Carey and Smith added 58 runs for the 5th wicket. Jasprit Bumrah bowled brilliant yorkers against Ashton Turner. Steve Smith finally reached his century off 117 balls.

After reaching his century, Smith took on the Indian bowlers with innovative stroke play. Navdeep Saini dismissed Ashton Turner via review for a caught behind. The umpire gave it not out and on review there was clear edge. Mohammed Shami got the big wicket of Steve Smith with a good catch by Shreyas Iyer at boundary. Shami and Bumrah bowled brilliantly in death overs to restrict Australia at 286 for 9 in 50 overs.

Chasing 287 runs to win, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma came to open the innings as Shikhar Dhawan got injured while fielding. Rohit looked in sensational form with aggressive hitting against Starc, Cummins. At the end of 10 overs, India were well placed at 61 for 0.

After the power play over, Ashton Agar provided the breakthrough dismissing KL Rahul. Rahul and Rohit added 69 runs for opening wicket. The Indian captain Kohli came to the crease and made the batting look easy. Rohit reached his fifty off just 56 balls and played with positive intent. Kohli created pressure on Australian bowling line up with aggressive stroke play. Rohit took on Zampa and other Australian bowlers which made the run chase easy. The explosive right-handed Rohit reached his 29th century off 110 balls. Kohli joined in the party with half-century off 61 balls. Zampa took the wicket of centurion Rohit for 119. Rohit and Kohli added 137 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Shreyas Iyer came to the crease and took few balls to settle before taking on Starc. Kohli was bowled by Hazlewood for well made 89 off 91 balls. Manish Pandey hit the winning runs to help India register a 2-1 win with 15 balls to spare.

India 289 for 3 in 47.3 overs ( Rohit Sharma 119, Kohli 89, Ashton Agar 1/38, Adam Zampa 1/44) beat Australia 286 for 9 in 50 overs ( Steve Smith 131, Labuschagne 54, Mohammed Shami 4/63, Ravindra Jadeja 2/44) by 7 wickets

For his superb performances in the series, Virat Kohli was named the man of series. Rohit Sharma for his 119 was named the man of the match.

It was a superb performance by the Indian team who came back strongly after being 0-1 down and played positive cricket at Rajkot and Bangalore.

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