Australia vs India: 5 reasons why India won the 3rd ODI
Both India and Australia headed into the decider at the MCG with the series locked at 1-1. Virat Kohli got lucky at the toss as India inserted the Aussies in to bat on a lively MCG surface. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early again as he sent both the openers back to the hut. Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh did the rebuilding work but both departed in the 23rd over. A dream spell from Yuzvendra Chahal who finished with match-winning figures of 6/42 helped India restrict the Aussies to a score of 230. Peter Handscomb was the leading run scorer for the home side with an impressive knock of 58 runs.
In reply, India lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma early but handy partnerships, first between Virat Kohli and M.S Dhoni and then between Dhoni and Jadhav saw India over the line with 4 balls to spare. Let us have a look at 5 reasons why India won the match.
#1 Australian openers struggle again
Australia once again trusted Alex Carey to open the innings along with their skipper Aaron Finch. The duo had struggled to put runs on the board in the first and second ODI and middle order was forced to do all the hard work. After putting up 8 runs in the first ODI and 20 runs in the second ODI, they could only muster 8 runs together in the third ODI as well.
Alex Carey fell to a sharp catch from Virat Kohli at second slip while Aaron Finch was again dismissed by his nemesis Bhuvneshwar Kumar with an inswinger. It was the third time on the trot that the Australian skipper fell to an incoming delivery from the leading Indian paceman. Australia have struggled for runs at the top and would be hoping that they can get a settled opening pair before the world cup begins in May this year.