After two massive blows in Australia, India finally got back to the winning ways. The Indian team defeated the Aussies in a neck-to-neck battle by 13 runs in the Canberra ODI match.
India won the toss for the first time in the series and elected to bat first. Openers Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan couldn’t build a partnership, the first wicket (Dhawan) went down on 26 runs.
It was the heroics of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja that put India in the driver’s seat. The duo added 110 runs in the last 10 overs to take India’s total past the 300-run mark which gave the bowlers a challenging score to defend.
Pandya and Jadeja broke a 21-year-old record, they both added 150 runs together in just 108 balls to bring up the highest 6th wicket partnership against Australia in ODIs. The previous record of 123 runs was set by Robin Singh and Sadagopan Ramesh in 1999. Pandya and Jadeja remained unbeaten on 92 and 66 respectively. Pandya was also awarded ‘Man of the Match’ for his brave innings.
Player of the Match for the third ODI is Hardik Pandya for his 92 not out #AUSvIND
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 2, 2020
India gave a target of 302 runs to Australia.
Marnus Labuschangne couldn’t impress the selectors and got out cheaply on 7 runs. Debutant T Natrajan scalped his wicket, he was playing in the place of Navdeep Saini.
Also read: Kohli Breaks Tendulkar’s Record, Becomes Fastest Player To Score 12,000 ODI Runs
Glenn Maxwell almost made Australia win the cliff-hanger with his spectacular 59 off 38 ball with 4 sixes. He was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. The Aussies managed to score only 289 runs in 49.3 overs.
A well deserved Man of the Match award for @hardikpandya7 for his unbeaten knock of 92.#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/KOH2yA7tIW
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2020
“We were put under the pump in the first half and in the second half of Australia’s innings. Shubman and others in the team, it brings in a bit of freshness. I think the pitch was much better for the bowlers. So the confidence goes up. Playing international cricket for so long, that’s the challenge you face. We were clinical with the ball and in the field. Happy with the performance and hopefully we take the momentum forward. I would have liked to go on for a bit longer, but it was a great partnership between Pandya and Jadeja,” Kohli said after the match.
