Team India have avoided a series whitewash as they beat Australia by nine wickets in the third and final ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on October 25, Thursday. The Men in Blue went on to chase down the target of 237 comfortably as Rohit Sharma starred with a hundred. Virat Kohli also made a good comeback after two consecutive ducks.
With the toss going in favour of Mitchell Marsh for the third consecutive time in the series, Australia opted to bat first on this occasion. The hosts made a confident start to their innings as Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head added 61 for the first wicket. Australia seemed on track for a 300+ total when Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw had the hosts at 183/3 in 34th over.
However, the Men in Yellow collapsed and finished only with 236 eventually, with all of the top six batters getting a start but failing to convert it to big scores. Matt Renshaw top-scored with 56. Harshit Rana, who copped criticism in the previous match for his performance, finished as the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 8.4-0-39-4. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Axar Patel and the returning Kuldeep Yadav snared one each, while Washington Sundar took two.
Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma set brilliant tone for the run-chase
Meanwhile, Rohit and Shubman Gill established a solid opening stand of 69 before Josh Hazlewood dismissed the visiting captain for 24. With Kohli walking out at number three, he got off the mark straight away to score his first run of the series.
Although the former Indian captain did look edgy in his first few shots, normal service resumed a few overs later as he picked out the ones and twos easily. Rohit got to his triple-figure score in the 33rd over with a single. Kohli stayed unbeaten on 74 as India avoided a series sweep.
Kohli also finished the match by snaffling a boundary.
