India vs Australia: 3rd ODI- Who Said What

Australia managed to win the third ODI against India at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi by 32 runs. They weren’t up to the mark in Hyderabad and Nagpur and were needed to win the third game in order to stay alive in the five-match series. The Aussies did it in style and got the better of the hosts comfortably. The Men in Blue were good in patches, but couldn’t be consistent enough in all the departments.

Khawaja shows his class  

After Australia were put in to bat first, Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja piled on the home team’s agony with an opening stand of 193 runs. The Aussie skipper looked at his very best after a lean patch with a knock of 93 runs, though he was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav and missed out on a century. Khawaja, after not being able to convert his knocks in the first two games, scored his maiden ton in the format.

He accomplished the feat in 107 deliveries and succumbed to a mistimed pull-shot off Mohammed Shami. Glenn Maxwell went hammer and tongs to rack up 47 runs from 31 balls with three fours and as many sixes. Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb got out cheaply. Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey scored 31 and 21 respectively to take the visitors to a substantial score of 313 for five in their 50 overs.

Kohli plays a tremendous hand

India didn’t get off to the best of starts as Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma perished to Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins. Ambati Rayudu got out for two and became Cummins’ second victim. However, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni cobbled together an useful stand of 59 runs to bring their team back into the contest. Adam Zampa dismissed Dhoni for 26 to break the ominous-looking partnership.

Kohli didn’t lose his cool and raced away to his 41st century in the 50-overs format. Zampa picked him up in the 38th over after the 30-year-old batter scored 123 runs from 95 balls with 16 boundaries and one six. After his dismissal, the likes of Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kedar Jadhav tried their hearts out, but all in vain. Cummins picked up Kuldeep to bring the curtains down on the game.

Leg spinner Adam Zampa said,

We bowled well collectively. The quicks upfront were amazing, Virat is a serious player, it was good to take his wicket when we did. I don’t think he’s my bunny, he’s one of the hardest players to bowl to. I was under a bit of pressure, if he had hit a couple of more boundaries, the momentum would have shifted towards them. The message from the management and the coach was to take wickets, the mindset was the same. The wickets here in India are pretty good and the outfield fast, that has a say in your bowling.

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, said

We were (in the game) specially how we pulled back things in the last 10 overs. We thought we would be chasing 350+ with the way Australia were going. I think they batted outstandingly well in the first 40 overs, but we pulled it back in the last 10 after Maxi’s run out. We were quite optimistice of our chance but well.. We were told there was going to be dew around 7-7 30, but there is not a drop of dew on the ground even now. I got that calculation wrong a little bit.

Nonetheless, we were keen to get that score on the board. The wicket wasn’t improving at all and wasn’t getting easier to bat on. So we had to make the most of whatever loose balls we got. I tried to do that for a decent time of the innings I played in but eventually I knew, the odd risk you have to keep taking and one wicket it will get more difficult. That is exactly what happened. If we were three down with 100 needed off 13-14 overs, it was still achievable. But with five down it was difficult.

Australia knew that as well and they kept pitching in the areas that made us hit good shots, then I got and Vijay got out, there was no looking back from there. No teams wants to do that (lose 4-5 wickets early). We are a team that takes a lot of pride in our cricket. We are a team that have strung in partnerships. We haven’t lose three in bunches many times. So it has happened a couple of times in the series and that is something we look forward to plugging in the next couple of games.

The guys who have got out will want to make the most of the opportunity. We don’t want collapses. We want partnerships that can get us going. In terms of hitting the ball, it was one of my finest hundreds. I just felt really clear in my head from ball one. Even after three wickets I thought I should play my game and not think of what happens if I play my shots.

I was very disappointed when I got out. I really thought we had a chance with the difference being 20 between balls and runs. Australia played better on the day. Adam bowled well and they won the game. We will have a few changes in the next couple of games. We have to figure out what those changes are. But the idea is to go out there and win matches and take a lot of pride in winning games for the country.

That mindset will not change. We will have a few new faces and they will have to make the most of their chances because there is a World Cup coming and everyone wants to be on that flight. The guys are excited and looking forward to it. A little hiccup in the middle but we will regroup and come back stronger.

Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, said

It was a pretty good performance. To get 300 on that wicket was very good. It was nice and especially in these conditions. That partnership allowed Maxi to come in and play his game. I have been working really hard and have always had the faith I would get runs. Usman played a fantastic knock, Jhye was also impressive with the ball.

Usman Khawaja, the Player of the Match, said

It is nothing like that. Specially against a very good Indian side. It was nice to get that win. The bowlers bowled beautifully. We weren’t quite sure what a good score is, Finchy started well and the lower-order did a good job take us over 300. My highest score was 98, so it was nice to get those extra two runs today.

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