Chennai: Following India’s 21-run loss against Australia in the third ODI, skipper Rohit Sharma termed the defeat a “collective failure”.
Virat Kohli’s half-century went in vain as Adam Zampa’s four-wicket haul and all-around team efforts helped Australia defeat India by 21 runs in the third and last match of the ODI series here at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.
“I do not think it was too many runs. We did not bat well. Partnerships are crucial and that is something we failed to do today. You are brought up playing in these type of wickets, it is important you apply. After the start, it was important for one batter to carry on and take the game deep. It just did not happen. A lot of takeaways. We can take a lot of positives from the nine ODIs since January. We need to understand where we need to improve. It is a collective failure, we can take a lot of learnings from this series. Credit to the Australians. Both the spinners applied the pressure and so did their seamers,” said Rohit in a post-match presentation.
With this win, Australia clinched the three-match ODI series by 2-1 This is India’s first series defeat at home since 2019. They had previously lost to Australia as well 3-2 in an ODI series back in March 2019.
After electing to bat first, Australia was bundled out for 269 runs in 49 overs. Openers Travis Head (33) and Mitchell Marsh (47) started off the innings well with a 68-run partnership. But all-rounder Hardik Pandya swung the tide in India’s favour, dismissing both the openers and Steve Smith (0) to reduce visitors to 85/3.
David Warner (23) and Marnus Labuschagne (28) failed to score big. Half of the Aussie lineup was back in the hut for 138 runs.
Following this, wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey (38) and Marcus Stoinis (25) stitched a 58-run stand for the sixth wicket, which Axar Patel broke.
Sean Abbott (26) and Ashton Agar (17) put on 42 runs for the eighth wicket and this pushed Australia to 269.
Hardik Pandya (3/44) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/56) were impressive with the ball and provided timely breakthroughs. Mohammed Siraj (2/37) and Axar Patel (2/57) also performed well.
In the chase of 270, India was off to a solid start, with openers Rohit Sharma (30) and Shubman Gill (37) playing some aggressive shots and putting on 65 runs for the first wicket. Following the departure of openers and the score being 77/2, Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (32) put a stand of 69 runs for the third wicket.
Virat got out after playing a rash shot, reducing the hosts to 185/5. After this, India continued to lose wickets regularly and despite Hardik Pandya’s knock of 40 runs, they fell 21 runs short of a win.
Adam Zampa was the star of Australian bowling, taking 4/45. Agar also took 2/41. Stoinis and Abbott got one wicket each.
Zampa was named as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his match-winning spell.
Marsh was named the ‘Man of the Series’ for scoring 194 runs in three innings at an average of 97.00, with best score of 81 and two half-centuries.
Brief score: Australia 269 (Mitchell Marsh 47, Alex Carey 38; Hardik Pandya 3-44) vs India 248 (Virat Kohli 54, Hardik Pandya 40; Adam Zampa 4-45).