January 17, 2016
Brief Scorecard: Australia 7 for 296 (Maxwell 96, S Marsh 62) beat India 6 for 295 (Kohli 117, S Dhawan 68, Rahane 50, Hastings 4-58) by 3 wickets
Glenn Maxwell played some outrageous shots, Australia v India, 3rd ODI, Melbourne, January 17, 2016
January 17, 2016
Brief Scorecard: Australia 7 for 296 (Maxwell 96, S Marsh 62) beat India 6 for 295 (Kohli 117, S Dhawan 68, Rahane 50, Hastings 4-58) by 3 wickets
Glenn Maxwell played some outrageous shots, Australia v India, 3rd ODI, Melbourne, January 17, 2016
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Glenn Maxwell and India's pace attack was the difference between the two teams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday where the Australian allrounder's 96 and another disappointing show by Indian fast bowlers dashed the visiting team's hopes of a comeback in the series.
In the end, Australia chased down the 296-run target in 48.5 overs to win by three wickets and complete hat-trick of wins to seal the series 3-0. That resulted in another disappointment for an Indian centurion as Virat Kohli scored 117 to help India put up a competitive total on the board.
Though Ravindra Jadeja bowled well with 2 for 49 in 10 overs, Umesh Yadav (2 for 68) and Barinder Sran (0 for 63) gave away 131 runs in a combined effort of 17.1 overs. Ishant Sharma, however, bowled well in a spell of 2 for 53.
Earlier, put in to bat first, India got off to a bad start as they lost Rohit Sharma — the man in form — for just six runs off the bowling of Kane Richardson. The other opener, Dhawan, who had been struggling for runs, got going but scored at a sluggish pace, finding the middle of his bat as the innings progressed.
Dhoni surprised many by dropping R Ashwin and bringing in two debutants in the form of all-rounders Gurkeerat Singh Maan and Rishi Dhawan. Manish Pandey was the other man replaced.
Kohli, who missed out on a century in the first ODI by just 8 runs and was run out in the second ODI after a fifty, was in positive frame of mind from the word go. The left-right combination of Kohli and Dhawan started upsetting the line of Australian bowlers, allowing them to up the scoring rate as the partnership grew.
Dhawan finally found his form back and brought up his fifty and was looking good for a big one before being dismissed playing a poor shot off John Hastings for 68. He was dismissed in the 27th over with the scoreboard reading 134 for 2.
The Kohli-Dhawan duo added 119 runs for the second wicket. In the process, Kohli went past 7000 ODI runs as he overtook AB de Villiers to become the fastest to get to the milestone in terms of ODI innings.
Kohli was then joined by Ajinkya Rahane in the middle. Rahane played second fiddle to Kohli as the pair added 109 for the third wicket. Kohli reached his ton off just 104 deliveries. On the other end, Rahane played some lovely shots and soon brought up his fifty as well.
When it looked Rahane had set himself up to get a big one, he was dismissed for 50 in an attempt to up the ante. He hit 4 fours and a six in his innings. Captain Cool MS Dhoni then joined the Indian Test skipper in the middle and looked dangerous from the word go as he smashed a six off the second ball he faced.
Recognizing the need to get a total in excess of 300, Kohli fell for a run-a-ball 117, his 24th ODI century, which made him the fastest to reach the landmark. He was dismissed by Hastings in the 47th over.
Dhoni played a cameo of 23 off 9 balls before being dismissed by John Hastings, who took 4 for 58 to be the pick of the Australian bowlers. He got all the big wickets of Dhawan, Kohli, Rahane and Dhoni to peg India back.
Gurkeerat scored 9 off 8 balls before he was cleaned up by James Faulkner, while the other debutant Rishi remained not out on 3.
Courtesy: IBN
