Australia vs India: 5 reasons why India won the 3rd ODI

Both India and Australia headed into the decider at the MCG with the series locked at 1-1. Virat Kohli got lucky at the toss as India inserted the Aussies in to bat on a lively MCG surface. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early again as he sent both the openers back to the hut. Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh did the rebuilding work but both departed in the 23rd over. A dream spell from Yuzvendra Chahal who finished with match-winning figures of 6/42 helped India restrict the Aussies to a score of 230. Peter Handscomb was the leading run scorer for the home side with an impressive knock of 58 runs.

In reply, India lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma early but handy partnerships, first between Virat Kohli and M.S Dhoni and then between Dhoni and Jadhav saw India over the line with 4 balls to spare. Let us have a look at 5 reasons why India won the match.

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#1 Australian openers struggle again

Aaron Finch failed yet again

Australia once again trusted Alex Carey to open the innings along with their skipper Aaron Finch. The duo had struggled to put runs on the board in the first and second ODI and middle order was forced to do all the hard work. After putting up 8 runs in the first ODI and 20 runs in the second ODI, they could only muster 8 runs together in the third ODI as well.

Alex Carey fell to a sharp catch from Virat Kohli at second slip while Aaron Finch was again dismissed by his nemesis Bhuvneshwar Kumar with an inswinger. It was the third time on the trot that the Australian skipper fell to an incoming delivery from the leading Indian paceman. Australia have struggled for runs at the top and would be hoping that they can get a settled opening pair before the world cup begins in May this year.

#2 Failure to convert starts

Shaun Marsh failed to convert his start into a big score

Shaun Marsh(39), Usman Khawaja(34), Marcus Stoinis(10), Glenn Maxwell(26)- all had good starts in the match but none could go on to play the long innings that Australia were hoping for. Shaun Marsh fell to a clever piece of wicket keeping by MS Dhoni while Usman Khawaja was through his shot a bit early and gave a simple return catch to Yuzvendra Chahal. Marcus Stoinis was undone by a sharp leg spinner from Chahal. Glenn Maxwell looked good at the crease for his short cameo but played one shot too many and was caught brilliantly at fine leg by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Although Peter Handscomb did try to put up a brave fight along with the tail but his half-century was never going to be enough as the Aussies could only post 230 runs on the board. With the opposition having many star batsmen, it was a below par score which was chased down by the Indian batting line up.

#3 Chahal’s brilliance

Chahal had match-winning figures of 6-42

Yuzvendra Chahal warmed the bench in the first two ODIs as India preferred the left arm wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav to his leggies. Virat Kohli opted to rest Kuldeep from the third ODI and hence Chahal got his first opportunity of the ODI series which he grabbed with both the hands. Chahal began proceedings with the prized wicket of Shaun Marsh who had been in great form throughout the one-day series. Just one ball later, Usman Khawaja closed the face of his bat too early and gave the simplest of return catches to Chahal. It was followed by the big wickets of Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb. Chahal returned with a match-winning figures of 6/42 which is the best by a spinner in ODIs on Australian soil. With such a brilliant performance, it would be very hard for the Indian team management to drop him again from the playing XI.

#4 Lack of wickets in the middle overs of the chase

Adam Zampa failed to take wickets in the middle overs

Indian began their chase in a cautious manner but lost the wicket of their star opener Rohit Sharma who got an outside edge that flew straight to Marsh at first slip. India then lost Shikhar Dhawan in the 16th over of their chase with the scorecard reading 59/2. Former Indian captain MS Dhoni then shut shop and did not give many chances to the opposition, grinding out his innings with the minimum of risks. His 54-run partnership with captain Virat Kohli and an unbeaten 121-run partnership with Kedar Jadhav sealed the fate of the Aussies. Although Adam Zampa did not give away too many runs in the middle overs, he was not amongst the wickets in contrast to his Indian counterpart, Yuzvendra Chahal. Billy Stanlake who played his first game of the series went wicketless as well. Australia desperately needs a wicket-taking bowler in the middle overs if they are to have any chance of winning the world cup.

#5 Poor fielding from the Aussies

Glenn Maxwell put down a sitter at point

The Australians have set high fielding standards throughout the past years. The likes of Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, and Michael Clarke were razor sharp in the field and would grab even half chances that were offered by the opposition. However, the current Aussie line up does not have such star fielders. Glenn Maxwell is the best of the lot but he somehow dropped a straightforward catch offered by M.S Dhoni on the very first ball he faced. Dhoni would go on to score 87 runs. He was again dropped on the score of 74 by Aaron Finch at mid off. Both the dropped catches were vital moments in the game. To go along with the missed catches, M.S Dhoni and Virat Kohli survived many close run-out calls as the Australian fielders failed to hit the stumps. Dhoni and Kedar converted many ones into twos and twos into threes with their sharp running and some mediocre fielding from the Aussies.