On Sunday in Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, India and Australia played their third and final ODI match of the series. It was a crucial match for both teams and Hit-Man Rohit Sharma played an amazing knock along with the skipper Virat Kohli to take them to a 7-wicket win over Australia.
Rohit Sharma Scored 119 Runs:
As India chased down 287 in just 47.3 overs, opener Rohit scored his ton in 128 balls and Virat Kohli missed his century by 11 runs.
KL Rahul with Rohit opened the Indian innings in place of the injured Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan hurt his shoulder on the field when Australian innings was in its fifth over.
The duo saw out 10 overs of at the start but Rahul could not get on for long after that. In the 13th over, Australia had pleaded got a leg before wicket off Ashton Agar. After it was ruled not out by the on-field umpire, skipper Aaron Finch asked for a review. Replays showed that the ball would have hit the stumps. This saw Rahul stroll back to the pavilion for just 19 runs.
Kohli and Rohit put on a great partnership and anchored the innings. Rohit and Kohli’s partnership was worth 137 runs for the second wicket.
Australian pacers wayward bowling helps India:
This was Kohli’s 9th ODI against Australia. They were not helped by a listless display of the Australian pacers, especially their spearheads Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. The fast-bowling pair conceded 130 runs in 16 overs.
Kohli then reached his 50. Not long after that, Australia got its breakthrough as Rohit trying to hit Adam Zampa over mid-wicket found Starc who took a sharp catch running from long-on.
Shreyas Iyer, who came into bat at the number 4 position, took the hunt by the scruff of the neck to get to another 50. Iyer ensured that India got home.
In the last two balls in the 45th over, Shreyas hit a four and a six. India had to score 19 in five overs. Kohli, at that time, was on 84. He hit a four off Hazlewood and appeared to pull out all the stops to pursue the ton but ended up being dismissed. Shreyas scored 68*. Kohli made 89.
In the 48th over, Manish Pandey pounded the successive fours straight over the bowler’s head.
Earlier, Steve Smith helped Australia post 286/9 with a magnificent century. Smith scored his 9th ton in 117 balls. It was his third century against India. He got to 131 from 132 and was dismissed as he attempted to switch gears. Smith was caught at midwicket by Shreyas Iyer off Mohammed Shami. On the match day, Shami was India’s best bowler.
Smith in his innings had hit 14 fours and a six. Though India restricted Australia to a score below 300 on a batsman-friendly pitch, they conceded 27 extras.
