India seal series 2-1 against Australia after clinical showing

 

Team India, down 0-1 in the three-match ODI series against Australia after the mauling they received in the first game at Mumbai, showed great resolve and grit to come back strong and clinch the series 2-1. After winning the second game at Rajkot, the Men in Blue pitched in with another dominating team effort at Bengaluru to win the game by 7 wickets.

After they had been asked to chase, the Indians starts off on a high by sending back David Warner early. Aaron Finch’s wicket was given as a gift wrap to the Indians after he was involved in a terrible mix-up, which left the Aussies reeling at 46 for 2.

However, their two most technical batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne got together and put on 127 runs for the third wicket, which gave the visitors some hope of piling on a score of over 300 on a tricky wicket. However, a flying catch by Virat Kohli ended Labuschagne’s 64-ball stay at the crease, which fetched 54 runs.

After Smith was dismissed,  by Mohammad Shami, for a well-made 131, the Aussie innings could never gather steam, and they eventually managed 286 for 9.

The Indians, who were without Shikhar Dhawan in the second innings, after he had injured his shoulder while fielding and had been taken to the hospital for X-rays, opened with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, but the former was unable to replicate his form in the game as he was soon out for 19. However, this allowed the two best batters from India, Kohli and Rohit, to come together and what followed was pure carnage.

The spinners were put away for singles and the fast bowlers were taken apart as the two experienced batters took the Team India score to 206. Rohit got to his hundred and was eventually dismissed for 119 off 128 deliveries with the help of eight fours and six big sixes.

Kohli, who crossed the 50-run mark for the 100th time in ODIs in the game, got close to his 44th ODI ton but was cleaned up by a Josh Hazlewood delivery with less than 15 runs to go for the win. Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey took the team over the line, however, as India clinched the series 2-1.

India now travel to New Zealand for a long six-week tour, with the first T20I being held on January 24.