With a fabulous partnership between Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli, India clinched the series 2-1 against Australia at Bengaluru. Let’s look back at the 5 main talking points of the day.
1. Not a great afternoon for Finch’s decision making
Aaron Finch’s luck with the toss continued but there was a twist this time. He decided to ignore the history of the ground and backed the old theory to put runs on the board in a big game. Captain Kohli who knows this ground better than most was more than happy to welcome that decision.
Warner again walked back early nicking behind, off Shami. When Finch was trying to rebuild the innings with Steve Smith, a terrible mix-up happened between the two. Smith took a few steps and denied the single but Finch over-committed himself and both the batsmen ended up at the same end. It reminds a few of Pakistani batsmen’s run-outs of late. Finch walking back to the pavilion looked quite furious with the dismissal.
2. Smith’s masterclass & flying Kohli
Once openers got out cheaply, the onus was once again on Smith and Labuschagne & like every match, in their home summer they once again lived up to the expectations. They milked the spinners & ran well between the wickets. Smith was just looking determined to make up for the mistake he made in the last match.
But with few tight overs and some brilliant saves by the captain himself, India managed to put pressure back on the pair. Eventually, that breakthrough came in form of brilliance by Virat Kohli who took a one-handed stunner at short extra cover to send Labuschagne back.
But that didn’t stop Smith to make his first ODI hundred in 3 years and after that his acceleration post hundred made Australia believe that they can cross the 300 run-mark.
3. Pinch-hitter is back
If electing to bat wasn’t old fashioned enough, another Australia’s decision which can take you back to 90s which was to use Mitchell Starc as a pinch-hitter.
Smith & Labuschagne’s partnership was good but one thing that they were lacking big time, was lack of power hitting in the middle order.
Australia tried to make up for that by sending Starc at 5 but that experiment lasted for only 3 deliveries when he was caught at deep mid-wicket for a duck.
The lack of finisher at the end costed them again as they couldn’t get the final flourish. In the last 10 overs, Australia scored only 63 runs and ended up on well below the score for this ground.
4. Dhawan setback but Rohit took up responsibility:
Before starting the chase, India already had a setback as they got to know the unavailability of Dhawan who had injured his shoulder while fielding.
So once again Rahul put his hands up to open with Rohit. They put up a fine stand by not letting settle their trump cards Starc & Cummins. Agar provided them the first breakthrough when he trapped Rahul in front with the help of a fine review.
But Rohit was in fine touch. His square-cut package was on exhibition. And whenever he got anything in his range, he was ready to put those into stands. That also allowed Kohli to take his time as India was a bit cautious with one batsman short.
5. Kohli vs Zampa round 3:
That contest that everyone was waiting for- Kohli vs Zampa. And with the track offering something for spinners it added more spice in it. But this time Kohli was happy to take the safer route against him.
Still, there was a constant tussle between the two. Zampa tried all possible ways to outfox him. Kohli got beaten outside off & failed to read googlies a few times but he was determined not to give him wicket this time. This battle went on for 29 deliveries and Kohli scored 23 runs with one boundary.
Even Kohli advised Iyer not to take him on as it was easy to score runs against pacers here and figures of Starc and Cummins reflect that story.
So those were 5 main talking points from what was a well-fought series-decider between India and Australia. Now India’s next challenge will begin in New Zealand. India will be playing 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 2 Tests in this tour which will last from January 24, 2020, to March 4, 2020. On the other hand, Australia will be touring South Africa to play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs. The T20I series will begin on 21st February.
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Bindu says
Great article!!