3rd ODI: India ride on Pandya, Jadeja and Shardul brilliance to edge out Australia and end losing streak

Ind vs Aus: With just six overs to go and Maxwell looking all set to take Australia home, Kohli decided to bring back his ace Jasprit Bumrah. The paceman responded in style as he cleaned up Maxwell with a yorker. That shifted the momentum completely in India’s favour.

Team India finally registered their first win on the tour of Australia as they edged out the hosts by 13 runs in Canberra in a hard fought match. The victory ended India’s run of five ODI losses on the trot and also helped captain Virat Kohli avoid a second straight whitewash in a series of three or more matches. Australia pocketed the series 2-1.

Canberra: India's Jasprit Bumrah, third left, is congratulated by teammates after bowling Australia's Glenn Maxwell during their one day international cricket match at Manuka Oval in Canberra, Australia.(AP)

Kohli’s decision to bat first after winning the toss seemed like a good choice as the skipper along with the young opener Shubman Gill stabilised the innings after the early loss of Shikhar Dhawan. The duo played some handsome strokes to string together a 50-run stand. But Gill was soon dismissed for 33 as he was trapped in front by left arm spinner Ashton Agar.

India vs Australia 3rd ODI - Highlights

Meanwhile, Kohli brought up a personal milestone as he went past 12,000 ODI runs, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record to be the fastest to the mark in terms of innings.

India’s struggle against spin continued as Shreyas Iyer was caught in the covers off the bowling of the impressive Adam Zampa for 19 runs, while the in-form KL Rahul was sent back cheaply by Agar.

India were in deep trouble when Josh Hazlewood accounted for skipper Kohli (63) for the third match running. The Indian run machine thus ended 2020 without a single ODI century to his name, something that has not happened since he broke into international cricket in 2008.

That brought Ravindra Jadeja to the middle and the left hander joined forces with Hardik Pandya to begin a rescue act. The duo took calculated risks to take the team past the 200-run mark and then launched a blistering attack in the last 10 overs that saw India pile on 110 runs in 60 deliveries.

Pandya remained unbeaten on 92 off 76 balls, hitting 7 boundaries and a solitary six while Jadeja used his big hitting skills well to smack three maximums and 5 boundaries as he remained unbeaten on 66 off 50 deliveries. Their 150-run sixth wicket stand helping India post a challenging 302 on the board.

It must be noted though that Australia had rested their two premier pacemen, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

India’s defence started well as debutant T Natarajan struck early to send back Marnus Labuschagne. It became better for Kohli’s men as the dangerous Steve Smith was accounted for by Shardul Thakur as Australia were down to 56/2.

Captain Aaron Finch survived a dropped catch and missed run out chance to make his way to a half century as he kept the pressure on the Indian bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah was unlucky to have not picked up Finch twice.

Thakur returned to send back Moises Henriques while Finch’s luck finally ran out as he holed out in the deep off the bowling of Jadeja for 75. Dhawan taking both catches to make up for his earlier drop of Finch.

India looked on top but the duo of Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell kept Australia breathing by adding quick runs. Maxwell was severe against the spinners after initially taking some time to get going.

The match turned on its head when Carey was run out for 38 with Australia still needing more than 90 runs to win. Maxwell though kept hitting the big sixes as he brought up yet another half century to bring the equation within grasp.

With just six overs to go and Maxwell looking all set to take Australia home, Kohli decided to bring back his ace Jasprit Bumrah. The paceman responded in style as he cleaned up Maxwell with a yorker. That shifted the momentum completely in India’s favour as Thakur and Natarajan then picked up the wickets of Abbott and Agar respectively to take India to the doors of victory.

The match was sealed by Bumrah in the final over as he trapped Zampa in front to finish with figures of 2/43. Natarajan was expensive but impressive on debut as he ended with 2/70 from his 10 overs, but the pick of the bowlers was Shardul Thakur who bowled 10 overs and gave away just 51 runs and picked up three crucial wickets.