Third ODI: Australia beats India by 21 runs

Australia defeated India by 21 runs in the third ODI to clinch the series 2-1 here on Wednesday. Australia made a competitive 269 against India after opting to bat. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa (4/45) shone bright with the ball as Australia bundled out India for 248 in 49.1 overs. The Australian top-order batters got starts but failed to make it big. Opening the innings, Mitchell Marsh top-scored with a run-a-ball 47 while Travis Head made 33 off 31 balls. Wicket-keeper Alex Carey (38), Marnus Labuschagne (28), Marcus Stoinis (25) and David Warner (23) all looked in good nick before throwing away their wickets. Sean Abbott (26) and Ashton Agar (17) also played good hands towards the end to take Australia past the 250-run mark before being bowled out in 49 overs. For India, Hardik Pandya (3/44) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/56) scalped three wickets apiece, while Axar Patel (2/57) and Mohammed Siraj (2/37) picked up two each. Just like the visitors, the Indian top-order too got starts. The likes of skipper Rohit Sharma (30), Shubman Gill (37), Virat Kohli (54), KL Rahul (32) and Hardik Pandya (40) all scored runs but gave away their wickets at crucial intervals. Rohit Sharma India cast win, said, I don’t think it was too many runs. We didn’t bat well. Partnerships are crucial and that’s something we failed to do today. You are brought up playing in these type of wickets, it’s important you apply. After the start, it was important for one batter to carry on and take the game deep. It just didn’t happen. Lot of takeaways. We can take a lot of positives from the nine ODIs since January. We need to understand where we need to improve. It’s a collective failure, we can take a lot of learnings from this series. Credit to the Australians. Both the spinners applied the pressure. Steve Smith, Australia captain, said, It’s been an enjoyable tour. We didn’t play our best cricket, good enough to get over the line. This wicket was entirely different, we left a few out there with the bat. The