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India avoided a series whitewash on Saturday night, taking their first win in the last match of the five-game series against Australia.
REPORT: INDIA WIN IN SCG THRILLER
The closest game of the series was saved for the last, unfortunately the series had already been decided. There were many good efforts with the bat, a couple with the ball too but it was a match to remember for two players – Mitchell Marsh and Manish Pandey.
Both got their maiden ODI centuries but only one could see it in a winning cause (of course there could have been a tie too from where we were). Marsh will also remember it for the last over of both the innings – he failed to get going in a bid to get to the three-figure mark, and then failed to defend 13 in that final over.
India will be relieved not to have gone down 5-0, what they will also think is with a bit more persistence they could have made it 2-3 too. That said, the Australian bowling wasn’t at its full strength.
Final score
Australia 7/330
India 4/331
Australia will look to complete the rout when they take on India in the fifth and the final ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday and you can follow the live blog of this match from 2:20 pm AEDT.
It was a game India should have won. And in the end, it was a result that would probably hurt the side and their fans even more than the series defeat itself.
Chasing a humngous 349, India were 72 away from the win with 76 balls remaining and nine wickets in the shed. And they had two batsmen batting on their respective centuries; in short, cruising towards their first win of the series.
Then Shikhar Dhawan’s tired shot ended his knock, MS Dhoni lasted just three balls and Virat Kohli fell to one that stopped on him to leave India in a big mire.
The onus was then on the middle order to try and get out of their woes but its inexperience came through.
Gurkeerat Mann hit a four and fell attempting the same next ball. Rishi Dhawan did something similar. And an injured Ajinkya Rahane guided a delivery to the slips to leave the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and the rest of the lower order with a lot to do.
They went on to lose their last nine wickets for the addition of just 46 runs, almost dishing out the game to the hosts on a platter.
There’s nothing to take away from the Australian bowling in those last few overs though. John Hastings set it up with a brilliant spell that slowed the Dhawan-Kohli pair down before picking up two wickets in his last over.
And then, having smelled blood and with Kane Richardson responding equally well to his captain’s call, Steve Smith brought his field in, had a catching fielder or two, and pressed home the advantage.
Going into the final ODI, there could be changes to both teams.
Rahane’s injury could mean a return for Manish Pandey, which means the Indian middle order will be further weakened in terms of experience. On a slightly more spin-friendly pitch, Ravichandran Ashwin could return to the playing XI but who will sit out remains to be seen – could well be Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Australia could lose Glenn Maxwell to a knee injury which might give Shaun Marsh a chance. Where Marsh would bat remains to be seen though.
Follow the live scores and blog of this Australia v India fifth ODI from 2:20pm AEDT on Saturday and post your comments in the section below.
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