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Australia will look to pull another back when they take on India in the fifth and the final ODI of the series. The game, that will be played in Jamtha in Nagpur, will be played on Sunday, October 1 and you can follow the live scores from 7pm (AEDT) right here on The Roar.
Finally a win for Australia. And while it came in an inconsequential game as far as the series is concerned, it should still give Australia that confidence they have been lacking in away ODIs.
In fact, more than confidence, that victory in the Bengaluru match will come as a relief for a team that hadn’t won an away ODI for more than a year. And having been thumped by South Africa 5-0 last year, it looked like this series was headed the same direction before that win.
Batting first was an obvious advantage for Australia, something they hadn’t used up too well in the third ODI.
Even in the fourth match, an all-too-familiar middle-order collapse left Australia gasping for room but some late-order batting pyrotechnics left them with lot more on the board than they had in the previous encounter.
India fought back well through Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, and while Hardik Pandya chipped in with another decent effort, the Aussie bowlers returned well towards the last 15 overs to wrest back the initiative.
Where India lost the match was their sudden drop in intensity and the so many changes.
The first factor was the reason behind their poor fielding effort, the latter led to a drop in quality thanks to some rustiness.
When you drop three of your best bowlers of the series and replace them with three who haven’t played a game in the first three matches, the lack of edge is always lurking around the corner.
And when the captain then fiddles around with his batting order as well – champion experienced batsman MS Dhoni was sent in at seven – then the result could well go against the side.
Kohli looks like a skipper who would want to continue his experimentation but a loss in the previous game could push him to bring one of his strike bowlers back.
There’s also a case for sticking to the batting order, especially in case of a chase.
Australia look to have got the line-up they want to stick but Steven Smith and co. will do well to remember it’s been their opening batsmen who brought them back into the series.
David Warner’s century in the fourth ODI and back to back scintillating knocks from Aaron Finch should give them the confidence that Hilton Cartwright hadn’t afforded them earlier.
They will look at their openers to deliver the goods yet again.
Follow the live scores and blog of the fifth ODI between India and Australia from 6pm (AEDT) here on The Roar.
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