The Australian top-order, bolstered by Aaron Finch’s presence, fired for the first time in the series. Despite India pulling things back at the death, a target of 294 — although below par considering the belter of a strip at the Holkar Stadium here — was far from being a cakewalk for India’s batting line-up.
However, the batting unit that hadn’t really come into its element in the first two ODIs ensured that India overhauled Australia’s 293 for six without much of a hiccup to seal the five-match ODI series with a five-wicket win.
While maintaining its 100 per cent record while playing in Indore, India also ensured a sixth successive bilateral series triumph.
The ninth successive win also equalled India’s longest winning streak registered between November 2008 and February 2009.
The locals, almost 25,000 in attendance, would have hoped for India’s famed top-three to do the job. And for a while, the Mumbai duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma converted the city that’s referred to as mini-Mumbai into a home ground.
Rohit tonked the Australian pacers’ short-pitched stuff into the stands at will, with a pull off Kane Richardson in the ninth over that sailed over the roof being the highlight.
Rahane, meanwhile, preferred to find gaps through the field, driving and cutting without much difficulty.
Even though the duo perished in the space of two overs — with Rohit miscuing a pull off Nathan Coulter-Nile to offer a skier to Hilton Cartwright who ran in from deep mid-wicket and Rahane paying the price for playing across the line and missing one from Pat Cummins — their 139-run association at over-a-run-a-ball had laid the foundation for India’s win.
Rahane’s dismissal meant Hardik Pandya had another opportunity to make a case for the No. 4 slot. The all-rounder grabbed it with both hands, his flawless 78 ensuring India didn’t suffer heavily from the loss of captain Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav in quick succession, with the latter throwing his wicket away with an obnoxious swat off Richardson.
Pandya pounced on Ashton Agar, sending the left-arm spinner into the stands four times.
The shot of the match came in the 45th over when Pandya waited till the very end to just whisk a short one from Marcus Stoinis over ‘keeper Peter Handscomb’s head just when the ball was crossing his head.
So late did he time the ball that the cut even left Australia skipper Steve Smith perplexed.
Pandya’s impressive knock finally got over with a dolly to mid-on off Cummins. But the crowd didn’t mind it since it offered them an opportunity to have a glimpse of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who accompanied Manish Pandey for the last 10 runs.
However, had it not been for Finch’s rampage early in the afternoon, Dhoni would perhaps not have had to take guard. Finch, playing his first game of the series after having recovered from a calf strain, expectedly started off tentatively.
But once he got his first boundary, an edge off Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth over, he played confidently.
Such was his onslaught that he didn’t spare any Indian bowler, especially going after chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. His scintillating century — his first in 25 innings over 20 months — set up the platform for Australia to put on an imposing total.
However, once he and Smith perished in quick intervals, India tightened the noose around the Australian lower middle-order.
While the spin duo of Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal frustrated Glenn Maxwell by not pitching a single delivery in the batsman’s arc, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bumrah finished on a strong note to ensure the batsmen didn’t have a gargantuan task.
