With a thrilling victory in Chennai while defending 269 runs, Australia surprisingly took over as the No. 1 ODI team and ended India’s four-year home winning streak. Australia decided to bat on a dry, soft pitch in a chance against the dew and went all-in after winning the toss.
They attacked the new ball during the powerplay, but they continued in attacking, leading to a good number of starts but no fifty.
India got off to a fast start, but the bowlers held on. Their two spinners, Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, combined for six wickets to help India recover from 65 for 0 and 146 for 2.
Because Marcus Stoinis was Australia’s fifth bowler because of Cameron Green’s sickness, the defence was all the more impressive. But, Stoinis’ 9.1 overs for just 43 runs and a wicket were a revelation.
Both innings began similarly, with fast starts to take advantage of the powerplay and the new ball, twists from the pitch, and aggressive choices made by the batters that led to soft-looking dismissals.
The most unexpected moment may have been Virat Kohli hole-out to long-off in Ashton Agar’s final over after reaching the game’s lone half-century, with Hardik Pandya batting strongly at the other end and the required run rate around a run a ball.
India needed 85 from 88 with four wickets in hand after Suryakumar Yadav’s third consecutive golden duck and Virat Kohli‘s dismissal.
It appeared that Pandya, who had earlier used numbers of 8-0-44-3 to stop Australia from getting off to a fast start, would lead India to victory, but he, too, opted for the big shot over extending the game.
With 52 needed off 39, his struggle against Zampa brought him back. Even Ravindra Jadeja labored at a Zampa wrong’un, leaving the tail an unlikely 45 to get off 29. Ravindra Jadeja needed to do all the scoring alone.
These dangers were generally completely unusual for India in that they appeared at times when India had the asking rate under control and came from both ends.
The pitch seemed to have rushed up under the lights as Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma made an explosive start, hitting 65 in 9.1 overs. The pitch didn’t play a big role in the first two wickets. Gill’s pad got in the path of Zampa’s falling half-volley after Rohit went down while attempting to maximise the last powerplay over.
Agar turned some balls frighteningly across the right-hand hitters after that, but Kohli batted superbly to continue at a run per ball without taking any chances. No one seemed worried even when Kohli and KL Rahul went eight overs without a boundary.
Now it appeared that Kohli was to serve as the chase’s anchor while the other end went for big smashes. One such strike came off Rahul’s bat’s toe and hit long-on. With the help of Alex Carey’s excellent keeping and Steve Smith’s excellent fielding, Axar Patel was advanced and promptly ran out.
After striking a six and a four in the first five balls he faced, Pandya once more controlled the chase. Pandya’s early score at the other end may have saved Kohli from having to start moving himself. Particularly in the dangerous Agar’s final over. Yet he did proceed, possibly out of a desire to score before the extra fielder was removed in the last ten.
Australia’s batters may be asking themselves similar issues, although they had a deeper batting lineup than India. They were also uncertain about the number they needed to obtain.
The initial target was to maximise the power play, which Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head accomplished despite the fact that the first surface puff was visible as early as the fourth over. In order to have their first over without a boundary, India needed to add spin in the sixth over.
Marsh was harsh, and Head kept hitting the wicket in square areas. Australia reached 61 for 0 once spin was introduced, which made it clear that scoring would need to slow down outside of the powerplay.
The introduction of Pandya quickly produced brakes. Smith drove on the rise but the cross-seam delivery drifted away after pitching to take his edge, and Marsh played on to be dismissed for under 50 for the first time in the series. Head found deep third while upper-cutting.
Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner, who were playing in the middle order for just the second time in an ODI match, appeared to finally enter an accumulation phase, but it was short-lived. They chose Kuldeep Yadav after Jadeja’s accurate bowling prevented them from scoring runs.
The fielder was in off the rope as Labuschagne’s top-edged slog-sweep went for six, but the two continued to attack. Labuschagne holed out to long-off while Warner found long-off while attempting to hit over long-on with both strokes having against-the-spin.
Australia continued to attack even after reaching 138 for 5 in the 29th over. But, Stoinis and Carey approached it in a unique way by sweeping and reverse-sweeping. Carey hit the free hit for a six after receiving a no-ball for breaking the field rules.
Stoinis and Carey started to take larger risks, probably in an effort to make the most of the remaining overs before a second fielder returns.
By the conclusion of the 37th over, Stoinis was caught long-on. Carey scored big with his dazzling blade in the following over, but a tremendous turn from Kuldeep bowled him in the 39th. 58 were added by the two in 53 safe deliveries.
Before the 40th over, with Australia trailing by seven runs, there was once more a chance that they had overshot and ultimately scored poorly. Sean Abbott, who had 26 off of 23, and Nos. 9, 10, and 11 scored 17, 10, and 10 not out, respectively, to lead the lower order. The final wicket brought in 22. Australia won by a margin of 21.