In what could be considered as a fine comeback by Team India, the visitors came up with a relentless performance to tame hosts Australia by 13 runs in the third and final One-Day International (ODI), at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, on Wednesday. As India avoid their second consecutive ODI series defeat, besides ending their five-game losing streak in the format, we take a look and analyse the talking points from this tie.
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Australia missed a third seamer? Australia decided to shuffle their squad today, making three changes. However, it was their bowling where they lacked significantly, having rested Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. While Sean Abbott and Josh Hazlewood did the job for them, they missed their third-specialist seamer, as Cameron Green was ineffective, while Henriques was not utilised either.
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Kohli and Gill- The perfect combination: Indian skipper Virat Kohli and youngster Shubman Gill contributed to a 56-run stand for the second wicket. The pair seemed to be gelling together, as making Gill bat with Kohli would definitely give him the much-needed exposure, he needs for international cricket in the coming days. The talented Gill is just getting his career started.
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Indian batsmen finally batting smart: It does take time to get settled to batting on Australian pitches. Nonetheless, after the previous two ODIs, it seems like they have got the taste of it. The Indian batsmen today ensured to rotate the strike frequently, besides taking the approach of one batsman playing in a composed manner, while the other going after it. It was the same thing that the pair of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja ensured towards the very end of the Indian innings, allowing them to post a match-winning total of 3025.
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Australia's fielding has been sensational: In another interesting observation, we have noted that Australia fielding, especially inside the 30-year circle, has been spectacular. It has allowed the Indian batsmen to not only lag in hitting boundaries but have heavily missed out on rotating the strike regularly. Nonetheless, the Indians did manage to bat more creatively today, in order to reach a respectable total.
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Should Alex Carey have opened for Australia? With regular Australian opener, David Warner missing out due to injury, skipper Aaron Finch decided to bring in Marnus Labuschagne, along with himself, as the opener. However, the latter failed big time, managing to score just seven. It could have been noteworthy had Alex Carey being promoted to open, as the left and right-hand combination could have troubled the Indian bowlers to get their lengths right, and thus, not disturbing the Australian top-order.
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Australia's batting runs deep: In another interesting observation, we noted that Sean Abbott came in to bat at number seven, who can be extremely handy with the willow. It indicates how deep Australia's batting is, while India's bowling was even phenomenal today, getting rid of them under pressure situation.
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Shardul Thakur can become a handy all-rounder: Thakur was the bowler for India today, having finished with figures of 351. It is to be noted that he has the ability to hit big with the bat as well and possesses some records with the same too. A little more consistency with the ball can help him transform into a bowling all-rounder and become a regular member for Team India.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, Kohli elected to bat first, as the Indians were yet again off to a slow and shaky start. Nonetheless, it was the skipper, whose prolific knock of 63, followed by Pandya and Jadeja's unbeaten 92 and 66, respectively, that allowed them to post a par total of 3025. In reply, The Aussies too were shaky, while the Indian bowlers came up with a cohesive performance to keep the hosts onto the back foot. It was pacer Shardul Thakur's 345 that ensured India script the consolation win by 20 runs.
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