India displayed great grit and determination to fight back and win the third and final ODI against Australia to eventually end with a result of 1-2 in the series. After piling on 302 in the first innings, the Indians did well to eke out a 13-run win as they bowled the rivals out for 289.
The Men in Blue started on an excellent note as Jasprit Bumrah extracted early bounce to trouble the Aussie openers. T Natarajan, who was making his ODI debut, had a fine start to his international career as he picked Marnus Labuschagne upfront to put his team on the front foot.
The Australians, who were without David Warner after the left-hander had suffered a groin injury in the second ODI, started off on an iffy note as skipper Aaron Finch led a charmed life. He was dropped by Shikhar Dhawan early on while Hardik Pandya missed an easy run-out chance. Bumrah failed to grasp onto a return catch as the opener got to his fifty to continue his fine form in the series.
However, wickets kept falling at the other end as Shardul Thakur impressed. DEbutant Cameron Green got off to a good start as did Moises Henriques, but the duo could not carry on as the asking rate kept climbing. Alex Crey then combined with Glenn Maxwell to add 52, but a suicidal run-out broke the stand with the wicket-keeper departing for 38.
However, Maxwell, who has been in exceptional form in the last two games, ensured that the team were never out as he took the equation down to 36 off 34 with a brilliant fifty – his second in the series. He fell to Bumrah while looking to clear the boundary, and though Ashton Agar tried hard, Maxwell’s wicket meant curtains for the home team.
Earlier, Indian captain Virat Kohli played a fine innings as he gave his team the foundation to get to a competitive total. Even as wickets were falling around him, the skipper played the role of sheet anchor to perfection but it was Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja who took the team over the 300-run mark. Pandya scored an unbeaten 92 – his second 90+ score in the series – while Jadeja was unbeaten on 66. The duo smashed 150 runs, including 76 off the final 5 overs, to help India finish with 302 on the board.
After being 192 for 5 in 40 overs, Pandya and Jadeja staged a fine counterattacking innings that left the Aussie bowlers searching for answers. They took quick singles, cleared the fence and played some aesthetic shots while sending the loose deliveries away. Sean Abbott, who had started off on a good note, picking up the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan early on, conceded 84 in his 10 overs, as the two unbeaten Indian batters punished him for some wayward bowling in the death overs.
Brief scores: India 302/5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 63, Hadrik Pandya 90*, Ravindra Jadeja 66*; Ashton Agar 2-44) beat Australia 289 in 49.3 overs (Aaron Finch 75, Alex Carey 38, Glenn Maxwell 59; Jasprit Bumrah 2-43, Shardul Thakur 3-51) by 13 runs.