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India started the year by registering their maiden Test series win in Australia and now, they have also won their first ever bilateral ODI series in Australia. India did not start off the series right as they lost the first match by 34 runs despite Rohit Sharma's century but they turned it around in a fine fashion.
While a Kohli masterclass followed by a Dhoni-Karthik finish helped India win the second ODI, in the decider, it was an unbeaten century partnership between MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav that helped India create history.
After being asked to bat second in the first two matches, Virat Kohli opted for the same after winning his first toss of the series. India were on top of the game right from the start of the match.
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India's opening bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami gave India a wonderful start. While Kumar picked up the wickets of both Australian openers - Alex Carrey and Aaron Finch, by conceding only 15 runs in his five-over spell, his partner Shami gave away just 14 run his first spell to increase the pressure on the home team.
Just when the next two batsmen - Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh - looked settled with a 73-run partnership for the third wicket, Virat Kohli introduced Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack. The Haryana leg-spinner, who spent a lot of time on the bench, grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
He sent back the two settled batsmen and put Australia on the backfoot. The only lower-order batsman other than half-centurion Peter Handscomb who looked good was Glenn Maxwell, who scored a 19-ball-26.
Just when Maxwell was looking to blast off, Shami put the break to his innings by bowling short of the length deliveries. After he broke that partnership, Chahal picked three more wickets including that of Handscomb and helped India restrict the home team to 230 in the first innings.
The chief destructor of the Australian innings, Chahal, ended the innings with six wickets for 42 runs in 10 overs and was rightly awarded Man of the Match for it. Vijay Shankar, who made his ODI debut, did not pick up wickets but gave away just 23 runs in the six overs that he bowled.
During the chase, India started their innings slowly as they lost the openers - Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan - for a 17-ball-9 and a 46-ball-23 respectively. The loss of both the openers brought Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni together in the middle.
The two experienced batsmen then steadied the Indian innings by adding 54 runs for the third wicket. While Virat Kohli missed out on a half-century by just 4 runs, MS Dhoni, who was dropped on 0 by Maxwell, went on to score his third consecutive half-century of the series.
What followed next was a masterful chase led by MS Dhoni with the aid of his CSK-mate Kedar Jadhav. The two put together an unbeaten 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket. While Jadhav ended his innings at 61 off 57 balls, the chase master MSD perfectly timed his innings of 87 runs in 114 balls.
With this win, India have won a bilateral series for the first time in Australia. MS Dhoni, who scored a half-century each in all three matches, was awarded the Man of the Series award.
Here's how Twitter reacted to India's historic series win:
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