Indore, Sept 28:Ā All-rounder Glenn Maxwell picked career-best figures of 4-40 on his return to the ODI team as Australia picked a consolation 66-run victory over India in the final match of the ODI series at SCA Stadium here on Wednesday.Warner (56), Mitchell Marsh (96), Steven Smith (74) and Marnus Labuschagne (72), smashed half-centuries to propel the visitors to a mammoth 352/7, the highest ODI score at this venue. In reply, India began well, thanks to half-centuries from returning duo of captain Rohit Sharma (81) and Virat Kohli (56). But Maxwell took the duo out, apart from Washington Sundar and Shreyas Iyer, to derail Indiaās chase. Australia took a leaf out of Indiaās strategy of using slower balls in the back-end of the innings to bowl out India for 286 in 49.4 overs. The result meant Australia broke their five-match losing streak in ODIs, though India has won the series 2-1.
Rohit Sharma, India captain, said,Ā Ā I’m pretty happy, of course I would like to go all the way along but if I’m hitting like that I’m happy. The last 7-8 ODIs we have played really well, we have been challenged under different conditions and different teams, I thought we responded to that challenge pretty well. Unfortunately not the result we wanted today. [on Bumrah] I’m pretty happy, more importantly how he feels body-wise, he has got so much skill, one bad game can happen to anyone. How he feels mentally and body-wise is key for us and that’s looking good for us. When we talk about the 15 we are very clear what we want. We are not confused, we know where we are headed as a team. It’s a team sport and we want everyone to come and play their part – that’s how we win championships. It’s about looking after the body and try and stay fresh for the next one and half months.
Glenn Maxwell, Player of the Match, said, Not too bad, is it! It has been a lot of hard work. The South Africa tour was a bit of a setback, but sped things up as well, got back home and got an injection. I don’t have any travel issues unlike the others. I look fresh. It’s nice to chip in, if Mitch Marsh was there on the field, we would have chopped and changed [on the bowling]. Since he was not there, had to bowl more. That will be the role of the allrounders in this World Cup. We are all trying to be as flexible as possible. We have a super-flexible list and it’s good to get some momentum before the World Cup.