In the series-deciding third and final one-day international in Chennai, Australian spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar guided their team to an unexpected series victory over Rohit Sharma and his squad, thanks to a determined batting display.
This marked a rare win for Australia in India, as it was the first time India had been defeated at home since their loss to Australia in March 2019. Prior to this defeat, India had won all seven of their home ODI series.
Australia put on an impressive display on Wednesday, dominating India in a convincing fashion to secure a victory by a margin of 21 runs.
India vs Australia 3rd ODI Highlights
In a challenging 270 run chase, India began with an explosive start, but their momentum dwindled as the Australian team maintained pressure on the Indian batters. Spin bowlers Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar worked together to take six wickets, creating difficulties for the home team in their chase.
Ultimately, India was bowled out for 248 in 49.1 overs, allowing Australia to make a comeback in the series after their initial five-wicket loss in the first ODI.
The outcome of the series suggests that the Indian cricket team is not yet fully equipped for the upcoming World Cup, and there remain numerous areas that require attention and improvement.
In the final 15 overs of the match, the Australian spin duo of Zampa and Agar emerged as the key players, managing to take six wickets while conceding only 86 runs in the 20 overs they bowled together. As the match progressed at the Chepauk stadium, the pitch gradually slowed down, making it increasingly challenging for the Indian team to score big hits after the 35th over of their innings.
Zampa’s clever use of googlies proved decisive in forcing Hardik Pandya (40 off 40 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (1 off 33 balls) to play against the spin, ultimately leading to their downfall.
Zampa’s outstanding performance against India marked his best figures yet in an ODI match, making him the hero for the Australian team.
Interestingly, Australia was the last international team to defeat India in a bilateral ODI series back in 2019, with a scoreline of 3-2. Since that series loss, India has managed to win seven consecutive bilateral ODI series at home.
However, in the current series, India’s top-order batsmen struggled to deliver consistent performances, especially in their home conditions, which resulted in three consecutive underwhelming performances. Had Australia scored at least 235 runs in the opening ODI, India could have potentially faced a 3-0 series defeat.
The Indian team’s highest run-scorer in the series was KL Rahul, with a total of 116 runs, which is indicative of the team’s batting struggles.During overs 35 to 43 of the innings, India only managed to score 31 runs, which had a significant impact on the game’s outcome.
Although skipper Rohit Sharma made a promising start, scoring 30 off 17 balls, he was eventually caught at deep square leg after attempting one too many pull shots. Additionally, an alert Alex Carey’s decision to convince Steve Smith to take a DRS resulted in the dismissal of Shubman Gill, who scored 37 off 49 balls.
After KL Rahul (32 off 50 balls) joined Virat Kohli (54 off 72 balls), the duo added 69 runs in 15.3 overs. However, on a pitch that slowed down over time, they were never able to establish their dominance.
Kohli’s first boundary came in his 21st delivery, with a pull shot off Agar. Two balls later, he hit a regal six off Agar over extra cover.
Similarly, Rahul’s first boundary came in his 45th ball when he hit Zampa for a four over his head. In the next over, Mitchell Starc bowled a length ball from wide off the crease, which Rahul hit for a straight six.
KL Rahul managed to dig out a ball fired by Zampa into the blockhole, but Abbott timed his jump well to catch it at the boundary. Shortly after, Agar struck, dismissing Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav (who had been out of form and was dismissed for his third first-ball duck in as many games).
With the score at 146 for 2, India’s fortunes began to decline rapidly, as they slumped to 185 for 6 before Pandya and Jadeja took to the crease. The Australian close-in fielders made it exceedingly difficult for the Indian batsmen to score runs.
Despite the tight bowling from the opposition, Pandya managed to maintain a 100-plus strike-rate.
Prior to that, a strong opening spell from Pandya and a persistent effort by Kuldeep Yadav restricted the Australian batters, with their tailenders putting up a good fight to take the visitors to a respectable total of 269 all out in 49 overs after winning the toss and opting to bat first.
The five wickets added 131 runs, keeping Australia in the game.Pandya (3/44 in 8 overs) took care of the top order, while Kuldeep (3/56 in 10 overs) impressed with his rhythm and guile on a helpful Chennai pitch.
His delivery to dismiss Carey was the highlight of the series – a classic left-arm wrist spinner’s leg-break that completely bamboozled the left-hander. Kuldeep’s joy was evident for all to see.
India were looking good as they had Australia struggling at 138 for 5. However, Carey and Stoinis put together a crucial 58-run partnership for the sixth wicket, followed by a 42-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Abbott and Agar, which helped Australia reach a respectable total. Starc and Zampa then added a valuable 22 runs for the final wicket to take their team close to the 250-run mark.
The momentum shifted in favour of the hosts after Pandya bowled three different deliveries in his first three overs, following a good start by Australia’s opening batsmen Marsh (47 off 47 balls) and Head (33 off 31 balls), who put on a 68-run partnership.
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne’s poor shot selection off Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling cost them their wickets cheaply, as they scored 23 (off 31 balls) and 28 (off 45 balls) respectively. However, Alex Carey played a sensible knock of 38 (off 46 balls) on the final day of a long two-month tour, which proved to be his innings of substance in the series.
