IND v AUS, 4th ODI Review: Consolation win for Australia in a high scoring game at Bangalore

It was a nail biting encounter for a major while but in the final few overs, Australia proved to be too good for the hosts. India, who was looking to register a record breaking 10-match winning streak fell 21 runs short of the target as the visitors pulled something back in their favor.

Batting first, they raced off to a brilliant start as David Warner, who was playing his 100th ODI, paired up with Aaron Finch to destroy the Indian bowlers. The destructive duo showed no mercy and kept scoring boundaries at regular intervals. Warner soon reavhed his half-century and with Finch catching up with him, they got to the hundred mark at a brisk pace.

David Warner clobbered both the spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal and the skipper was running out of options. The southpaw slowed down a little befire gettng to his century as he appeared a bit tentative. Yet, he got there with a boundary and post then, he tried for a boundary almost every ball.

Just when people felt Australia had a great chance of scoring over 400, part timer Kedar Jadhav pickedup the prized scalp of Warner and a mini collapse followed. Umesh Yadav sent Aaron Finch back in the very next over as he fell 6 runs short of a well deserved hundred. Then came the big wicket of Steve Smith and Australia were tottering badly.

Travis Head and Peter Hadscomb stuck in for quite a while as the duo added a decent 4th wicket stand. Yet, the scoring rate came down and things were not looking very pretty for them. Head departed after fighting for sometime and Handscomb played some big shorts. Though they failed to do anything remarkable, they managed to pile up 334 for the loss of five wickets in their 50 overs. Umesh Yadav picked up four wickets for India.

A remarkable start that went in vain

Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane love batting with each other and once again, they exhibited some wonderful strokeplay in the first 10 overs. The best part about their partnership was the pull shots that they played with such furnace and ease. Neither of them backed off from scoring boundaries and this 335 run target seemed quite a small one.

Both the players completed their half-centuries and India breached the 100 mark inside 17 overs. Just when the partnership looked incredibly promising, Rahane walked back and things started to turn in Australia’s favor. Thanks to a spectacular fielding effort from Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma wasat the receiving end of a run out and Kohli too didn’t last for a long time.

Hardik Pandya stepped up again and stitched a crucial 4th wicket stand with Kedar Jadhav. This duo took the mantle upon themselves and mixed caution with aggression brillantly. With both these players going all guns blazing, the required runrate was well under control and India were cruising towards their 10th consecutive victory in ODIs.

But fate had something else to say to Pandya as he was dismissed by his arch nemesis Adam Zampa. Manish Pandey and Jadhav continued striking for a good while and added a 50-run stand in quick time, but the Aussie bowlers picked up and started bowling some amazing blockholes.

Boundaries kept coming at regular intervals and things looked quite good for India. But then came a huge twist as Jadhav and Pandey walked back in quick succession, which ensures the required run rate crept over 14. Crowd was expecting a vintage Dhoni show at the Chinnaswamy, but that never materialized and wickets kept tumbling.

Eventually, boundaries dried up exactly when India needed them the most and Australia emerged victorious by 21 runs. Kane Richardson picked up 3 crucial wickets and was the chief catalyst behind the triumph. Nevertheless the hosts lead the 5 match series by 3-1 and the final ODI will be played at Nagpur on Sunday.

Brief Scores

Australia: 334/5 in 50 overs( David Warner 124, Aaron Finch 94; Umesh Yadav 4/71)

India: 313/8 in 50 overs( Kedar Jadhav 67, Rohit Sharma 65; Kane Richardson 3/58)