‘World Cup se pehle haarna zaruri tha?’ – Fans react as Australia salvage pride with victory in 3rd ODI, India clinch series 2-1

Australia successfully avoided the whitewash after defeating India in the 3rd and final match of the 3-match ODI series. The Kangaroos defeated the Men in Blue by 66 runs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajko on Wednesday, September 27.

Talking about the match, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh provided a breathtaking start to the team as both stitched a quick 78-run stand for the first wicket. Warner smashed his 3rd consecutive half-century of the series. However, he departed after scoring 56 runs off just 34 balls. During this, he hit 6 fours and 4 sixes.

Warner’s dismissal didn’t affect the scoring rate as Steve Smith and Marsh were dealing with boundaries only. Both stitched a 137-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Marsh fell 4 runs short of his century, however, his innings included 13 fours and 3 sixes. Smith also went back after scoring 74 runs.

Australia lost wickets at the crucial stage due to which they couldn’t achieve the 400-run mark which was looking easily achievable at one stage of the innings. Marnus Labuschagne also played a great knock in the end and scored 72 runs. Jasprit Bumrah picked up 3 wickets for India but conceded 81 runs in his 10 overs quota. India’s death bowling restricted Australia to the score of 352 runs.

Brilliant bowling performance by Australia

Chasing the target, India captain Rohit Sharma started the innings with his new opening partner Washington Sundar and as usual, Rohit gave a cracking start to the team but Sundar struggled from the other end and departed after scoring 18 runs. However, Virat Kohli joined Rohit and both started scoring at a good pace.

Just when Rohit was nearing to his century, he got dismissed on the score of 81 runs which included 5 fours and 6 sixes. Kohli also smashed his half-century but failed to finish the job for the team and got out on 56 runs. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul both looked well in the middle but the target was big and the asking rate was increasing rapidly due to which both departed in an intention to accelerate.

Australia’s brilliant bowling display and Glenn Maxwell’s amazing spin bowling proved to be a tough job for the Men in Blue as they were restricted to just 286 runs. However, India have already won the series 2-1 by winning the first two matches of the series.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/zaynakadead/status/1707063892546027575

https://twitter.com/Den__gue/status/1707063751890100596

https://twitter.com/icricketfreak/status/1707064036871856175