Centuries from Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan wasn't enough as Australia came back from an improbable position to take a 4-0 lead in the series after the fourth ODI against Australia in Canberra. After winning the toss, Australia reached 348 thanks to a century from Aaron Finch and useful cameos from Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell.
In response, India got off to a brilliant start thanks a blistering 41 off just 25 balls from Rohit Sharma. Although he got out before making his fifty, Kohli and Dhawan both made centuries and added 212 for the second wicket to set the perfect platform.
But a middle-order collapse handed the Australians the game on a silver platter. India lost their last nine wickets for just 46 runs as Australia won by 25 runs.
Here are some interesting numbers from the game:
1 – Only one Indian batsman had scored 4 50+ scores in four consecutive innings vs Australia in Australia. Sunil Gavaskar was the only Indian to do it when he scored 59, 92*, 77, 72 in 1985-86 B & H World Series Cup.
1 – Only once before have India had four consecutive century partnerships for the second wicket in four successive ODIs. The last time was in 2012, when they racked up 205, 148, 133 and 173. Incidentally, Kohli has been involved in both.
1 – Only once before have Australia had two opening stands of 125 or more in a bilateral ODI series. The last pair to manage this feat – 129 & 127 by Clarke-Haddin v SA in SA 2008-09.
2 – Only two Australian batsmen have completed 2000 ODI runs faster than Aaron Finch. Finch took 54 innings, the same as Greg Chappell and George Bailey while David Boon (52) and Matthew Hayden (53) got to the milestone quicker.
3 – This was only the third ODI Australia have played in Canberra. Although 8 ODIs have been on this venue, five of those were as a neutral venue.
3 – Only three other Australian opening pairs have more ODI century partnerships than Warner-Finch’s 3. Hayden-Gilchrist are miles ahead with 16, while Gilchrist-Waugh (8) and Boon-Marsh (7) are the other two pairs.
4 – Only four Australian openers have scored more ODI centuries than Aaron Finch’s 7. Adam Gilchrist leads the way with 16, Mark Waugh (15), Matthew Hayden (10) and Geoff Marsh (9) are the others who have more.
7 – There have only been seven Australian opening partnerships better than Warner-Finch’s 187. Incidentally, the highest ODI opening partnership for Australia involved Finch, but it was with Shaun Marsh when the pair added 246 against Scotland.
10 – While Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma added 65 for the first wicket in this innings, it was the first time after 10 innings that he had a partnership over 50.
16 – Virat Kohli is now just one behind Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most hundreds in chases.
19 – Australia now have the record for the most consecutive unbeaten ODI matches at home. They beat West Indies’ record of 18 wins from 1986-1990, after 18 wins and one no-result.
25 – Virat Kohli is now the fastest to 25 ODI centuries. He scored his 25th in his 162nd innings, beating Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 234 innings comfortably.
32 – This was the 32nd consecutive time that Australia have defended a target of 300 or more in Australia in an ODI.
61.97 – Kohli now has the highest average of any batsman while chasing. He has scored 4,400 runs in 90 innings at an average of 61.97 with 15 centuries. AB de Villiers is second with an average of 57.29.
72 – Dhawan became the fastest Indian to get to 3000 ODI runs, as he achieved the milestone in 72 innings, beating Kohli’s record of 75 innings. Overall, he is the third-fastest to that milestone after Hashim Amla and Viv Richards.
74 – India became the second-fastest team to complete 100 runs against Australia in an ODI since 2002. India needed just 74 balls to get to 100, but New Zealand hold the record for the fastest (68), which they achieved in 2009
77 – Although he picked up four wickets, Ishant Sharma still conceded 77 runs, which is the most by an Indian bowler in Australia beating Debasis Mohanty’s 76 vs Pakistan in Hobart.
131.3 – Australia's average opening stand at this venue is a staggering 131.3 after the 187-run partnership between Finch and Warner. The other two stands were 89 v West Indies and 118 v South Africa.
175.86 – Steven Smith’s 51 was scored at a strike rate of 175.86, which was the third highest strike rate by an Australian captain in an ODI. The highest is by Allan Border whose 84* against England was scored at 190.90 and Bailey’s 92* against India in 2013 was at 184.
357 – Sachin’s 357 against Australia in the 1997/98 Coca-Cola Cup 1997-98 was the previous highest aggregate, which Kohli has gone past that in this series.
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