Following his side’s 99-run loss to India in the second ODI, Australia skipper Steve Smith that having lost five matches in a row ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in October, his side needs to work on a few things. India outplayed Australia with both bat and ball to clinch the three-match ODI series 2-0 after winning the second match by 99 runs through The Duckworth-Lew–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
“When we came here it looked a good wicket, changed a little bit. Credit to India, they batted beautifully…400 was always a big challenge on that. I have seen games here before and it’s looked good for chasing. We were a fair way off. We have lost quite a few in a row now…World Cups are about peaking at the right time, we certainly haven’t done that at this stage. A few things to sort out. We know we are a good side. Both teams are working towards the World Cup but still want to win games,” said Smith in a post-match presentation.
Coming to the match, India was put to bat first by Australia. A 200-run partnership for the second wicket between Shubman Gill (104 in 97 balls, six fours and four sixes) and Shreyas Iyer (105 in 90 balls, 11 fours and three sixes) laid the foundation for something big. Later, half-centuries from skipper KL Rahul (52 in 38 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Suryakumar Yadav (72* in 37 balls with six fours and six sixes) and a cameo from Ishan Kishan (31 in 18 balls with two fours and two sixes) pushed India to 399/5 in 50 overs.
Cameron Green took two wickets for Australia but gave away 103 runs. Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa took a wicket each.
In the chase of 400, Australia was reduced to 9/2 and rain interrupted the action. Following the resumption of action, the target was 317 in 33 overs.
An 80-run stand between David Warner (53 in 39 balls, seven fours and a six) and Marnus Labuschagne (27) stabilised the innings a bit. But after this, wickets kept falling and the Aussies sunk to 140/8.
A 77-run explosive partnership between Abbott (54 in 36 balls with four boundaries and five sixes) and Josh Hazlewood (23) entertained the audience, but the Aussies were bundled out for 217 in 28.2 overs, losing by 99 runs.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers for India with 3/41, with his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja getting 3/42. Prasidh Krishna got two wickets while Mohammed Shami got one.
India has won the series 2-0 with one match to go.
Shreyas Iyer was given the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his century.
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