India has won the three-match ODI series against Australia with a comprehensive win in the series decider by seven wickets in Bengaluru. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made a solid partnership of 147 runs as they chased down 287 runs after Steve Smith also got to the three-figure earlier in the day.
India suffered a severe blow even before the chase started as Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the match due to the shoulder injury he sustained in the first innings. But that didn’t deter Rohit and KL Rahul’s confidence as the duo started strongly. They made an opening partnership f 69 runs before the latter was sent back by Ashton Agar courtesy a brilliant review.
WATCH – Virat Kohli Took A Stunning Catch To Dismiss
But Kohli’s arrival only made things tough for the Aussies. Though the period from over 11 to 20 was excellent for Australia as gave away just 35 runs by pilling up a plethora of dot balls. The spinners, Agar and Adam Zampa, bowled exceptionally well. But both the Indian batsmen made sure that they didn’t give away their wicket and reaped rewards for it later.
Surprisingly, Australia’s pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were smashed all-over the park by Rohit and Virat. Sharma was simply brilliant on the day as he dished out some of the best elegant strokes from his book. With India’s score just over 150, the 32-year-old got to his 29th ODI century, his 8th ODI century against the Aussies.
However, Rohit was eventually dismissed by Adam Zampa. Virat Kohli did well scoring 89 runs in the chase. Shreyas Iyer, after failing twice, came up with a much better effort batting at four and remained unbeaten in the chase scoring 44 runs along with Manish Pandey (8*) as India finished the game with 15 balls to spare.
Australia won the toss and opted to bat first after failing to chase down 341 in Rajkot. But they didn’t get off to a good start with Mohammed Shami nipping out David Warner. However, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith continued churning out runs in the powerplay. The duo was looking dangerous only for a weird mix-up between them to break the partnership.
WATCH – Aaron Finch Got Run-out Owing bad Call From Steve Smith
Marnus Labuschagne came out to bat and like the previous game, he joined hands with Smith to stitch 127 runs for the third wicket stand. At 173/2 in the 32nd over, things were looking ominous for India. But once again, Labuschagne’s wicket proved to be the turning wicket and he was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja owing to a brilliant catch from Virat. Meanwhile, Smith was playing a sublime knock, but he got out in the 48th over on 131 with 14 fours and a six and the visitors reached to 286/9 after 50 overs.
Brief Scores:
India – 289/3 in 48.3 overs (R Sharma: 119, V Kohli: 89; A Agar: 1/38) defeated Australia – 286/9 in 50 overs (S Smith: 118; M Shami: 4/63, R Jadeja: 2/44) by 7 wickets
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Done n dusted !! Well done men in blue @BCCI !! Well played @ImRo45 for ur 💯. Total team effort in winning the series especially @MdShami11
— Mithun V Manhas (@MithunManhas) January 19, 2020
Kohli may have missed hundred but his partnership with Rohit had already confirmed the series win for India. Another milestone hundred by #RohitSharma . 3rd Fastest to 9000 runs👏 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/kiTgWjUayh
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) January 19, 2020
Watching Rohit in full flow is pure Joy. Getting to call it is a Blessing. What an incredibly talented-skilful batsman!!! #IndvAus #29
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 19, 2020
Ye #RO humesha bharat ke #HIT mein hai… @ImRo45 #Hitman #100 #INDvAUS
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 19, 2020
Just because we see it frequently we can sometimes take batting feats for granted. We have seen some extraordinary batsman ship this home season. Rohit’s the latest. 👏👏👏
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) January 19, 2020
Mumbai: Australia win by 🔟 wickets
Rajkot: India win by 3️⃣6️⃣ runs
Bengaluru: India win by 7️⃣ wicketsEnd of an exciting, closely-contested series 🙌 pic.twitter.com/50Osme93Kv
— ICC (@ICC) January 19, 2020
India this season in eight series across all formats (so far): Won 7, Drawn 1#IndvAus #IndvsAus
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/eshagupta2811/status/1218920421694640129
Powerful Indn response to challenging OZ score to clinch the Series..now..this is the kind o opposition Indns need to uphold the virtues of a great teamwork.!! Well done #India..Aussies needn’t feel despondent..they lost to a better & more competitive bunch..!!
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) January 19, 2020