India vs Australia, 3rd ODI: Talking Points from Australia's victory in 3rd ODI

Aston Agar picked up two wickets in two balls of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to provide a crucial breakthrough in a game that was getting away from Australia.

Australia winning the 3rd ODI against India in Chennai (Image Credits: ICC/Twitter)
By Omar | Mar 22, 2023 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Australia wins the Mastercard ODI series 2-1, after handing India a defeat at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. The visitors won the 3rd ODI by 21 runs. This will provide a huge boost of confidence to them considering the upcoming Cricket World Cup is scheduled later this year in India. Rohit Sharma has lost back-to-back matches and needs to tweak things around in the team before the marquee event.

Solid opening stand after winning the toss

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision paid off as Travis Head and Mitch Marsh stitched a 68-run opening partnership. The Indian bowlers toiled hard but were unable to get any success with the new ball. It was a hot day in Chennai and the pitch has started to deteriorate which led to a few wickets in a bunch. Run-making seemed to get harder with every passing over and spinners started turning the ball square.

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Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep turned the tide in India’s direction

Hardik Pandya’s introduction turned the tide in India’s favour as he along with Kuldeep Yadav picked up quick wickets to leave Australia struggling at 138/5 after 28.1 overs. With Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey at the crease, Australia did not lose hope as the duo stitched together a 58 run-stand to stabilize the innings. Additionally, thanks to some late innings charge from Abbott and others ensured Australia crossed the 250 run-mark but they could not bat out the entire 50 overs as India managed to pick up the remaining wickets and bundle out the Aussies for 269. 

Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma fired at the top for India

With the target set at 270, it was never going to be an easy chase. However, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma came out looking in supreme touch. The Indian captain played a blistering cameo of 30 runs from 17 balls and notched up a 65-run opening stand with Gill. Once Rohit got out, the chase followed a similar pattern to the first innings as the boundaries dried up and the batters started accumulating singles to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Middle order got off to starts but couldn’t convert it into anything substantial

Virat Kohli was the top-scorer for India for his valiant 54 runs off 72 balls. KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya all got starts but failed to hold up one end for India as Australia put the choke on. The nightmare series continued for Suryakumar Yadav, the experiment to hold him back failed, as he got out for a third successive golden duck. Only this time Ashton Agar was the culprit.

Aston Agar took two back-to-back wickets and Adam Zampa

Aston Agar picked up two wickets in two balls of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to provide a crucial breakthrough in a game that was increasingly getting away from Australia. Adam Zampa finished the game with his best figures against India, picking up 4/45 from his 10 overs. Ashton Agar chipped in with 2 wickets while Sean Abbott got a solitary victim. In the end, the heat, the pressure, the run-rate and the slowness of the pitch was too much for Indian batters to contend with and they fell short by 21 runs to end the series on a disappointing note. 





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