Indian Team captain Ms Dhoni first time in the series felt they had put up enough runs on the board and they should have successfully defended it.
In the third ODI, Australia chased 296 runs and lead the series as 3-0 in the five-match ODI series against India. After two consecutive centuries from Rohit Sharma, he failed to score this time. He got out to the wicketkeeper after scoring just 6. But this time, Dhawan scored fifty and Run machine Virat Kohli was scored hundred. This was his first against Australia in Australia and the 24th of his career. There was another fifty from Ajinkya Rahane. India managed to add 295 runs in 50 overs.
Australia opener Shaun Marsh gave the perfect platform for the chase and got out on 62. Indian bowlers and fielders suddenly picked couple of quick wickets. Maxwell and James Faulkner added some quick runs in middle. Unfortunately Glenn Maxwell fell four short of a well-deserved century, but Australia managed to chase 296 runs with seven balls to spare.
James Faulkner hit the winning runs as the hosts increased their unbeaten run at home in ODIs to 17 matches.
Man of the Match : Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell was awarded the Man of the Match for his terrific 96. At the presentation, Maxwell said,“That was a pretty amazing win. They posted a good score on a pretty slow wicket and to chase this down was really enjoyable. I think I have been making really big strides over the last few months. The way I have been hitting the ball and playing the game has been a little bit different to the previous years. Hopefully that starts to show in the results as well. It was nice to get a few out of the middle, but unfortunately I broke my No.1 bat, which was annoying. I have to call Kookaburra and try and get another one (smiles).”
After the loss 3-0 in the series, Ms Dhoni said,“It’s a tough loss. We didn’t field well. I remember at least three boundaries could have been easily stopped and that makes a lot of difference in a tight game. I don’t think there was any chance of getting any more runs. I felt 295 was a very good score. We picked up wickets in the middle, but Sran did not have a good day at the office, so that put more pressure on him and it became difficult for me to rotate the bowlers. Ashwin’s exclusion is always debatable, but I thought Rishi Dhawan and Gurkeerat did a decent job. We have to realise that ours is a very inexperienced seam attack. The spinners have played a lot, but the conditions here won’t really help them a lot. It was good to see Ishant bowl very well in the middle overs. Overall, when there is a bit of pressure on them (the bowlers), they start leaking runs and it becomes a bit difficult to manage.”
At the presentation Steve Smith came to speak with Pleasing smile and Smith said,“Great performance by the boys. We did well to restrict them and then got off to a good start with the bat. They bowled well in the middle and came back strongly, but then it was the Maxwell show. He took risks at the right time and it was great to see Jimmy Faulkner with him at the end as well. We’ll wait and see if want to bat first in the next game. We have been playing well, but there is still room for improvement, which is really exciting and hopefully we can continue improving over the next couple of years.”
