India opener Rohit Sharma’s 119 along with skipper Virat Kohli’s 89 off 91 deliveries against mighty Aussies help India clinch three-match ODI series 2-1. In the final series decider match conducted at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, the spectators witnessed the brilliance of the formidable ‘Men of Blue’ as they registered a colossal victory against Australia by seven wickets. Australia team captain Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bat first, leaving Virat Kohli and Co. confident to field in the first half. Chasing a challenging target of 287 runs, India got a solid start with openers K L Rahul and Rohit Sharma dominating the ground with their masterful batting prowess. Rahul had opened the batting as Shikhar Dhawan got injured while fielding. After mustering 19 runs (including two fours) off 27 balls, Dhawan was dismissed by Ashton Agar.
The ‘Men In Blue’ exhibited a clinical all-round performance and avenged their humiliation by Australia last year. On the batting front, swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma smashed the bowlers since the beginning and hit a scintillating century (8 fours and six sixes). Indian skipper Virat Kohli kept India chase on track with his 89 runs that included eight fours. Both the incredible players struck a partnership of 137 runs.
The third match of the ODI series marked Rohit Sharma’s 29th ton and saw Virat Kohli becoming the fastest to score 5000 ODI runs (82 innings) as a captain, breaking Dhoni’s record who achieved this feat in 127 innings. Shreyas Iyer also contributed his bit to keep India afloat and remained not out on 44 with six fours and a six in his tally.
On a batting paradise, Indian bowlers displayed a couple of match-winning spells. Pacer Mohammad Shami scalped four wickets for 63 runs to restrict 'Men-In-Yellow' to 286 runs and Ravindra Jadeja managed to bag two wickets for 44 runs. Both the players shared six wickets between them.
On the other hand, it was indeed a bad day for the Aussies. The visitors did not start well as David Warner was sent back to pavilion early, followed by Finch. Despite stellar performances from Steve Smith who slammed his ninth ODI ton (131 off 132), Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey who scored 54 and 35 runs respectively, Australia failed to take the winner’s title home.
