Australia v India, 4th ODI: Player Ratings
Of all the ODIs that India played in the series so far, this was arguably the best opportunity India had to win the game. Although the series was lost in the previous game, all India had to play for was pride. However, it all ended in disappointment and embarrassment after a batting collapse.
Being set a mammoth target of 349 by the home side, India could not have asked for a better start to the innings with the top-order firing well. But, the middle order failed miserably as India fell short by 25 runs.
Here are the ratings for the players from both sides:
Australia:
David Warner: 9/10
Warner came back into the Australian squad for the fourth ODI and played a brilliant knock to score 93 off 92 balls. He started the initial assault on the Indian bowling as his opening partner Aaron Finch took his time to settle down.
Aaron Finch: 9.5/10
Finch scored an excellent run-a-ball knock of 107 runs. Although he started off slow, he took on the bowlers late on and scored a well-deserved century. His opening stand of 187 runs in 30 overs with Warner helped set the platform for a massive first-innings score.
Mitchell Marsh: 5.5/10
Promoted to bat at No. 3, Mitchell Marsh failed to impress as he struggled early on. He hit a few boundaries later on in his innings to score a 42-ball 33. With the ball, Marsh conceded runs at more than 6 an over.
Steven Smith: 8/10
The Australian captain came in at a time when they had to accelerate and Smith took the bowling on right from the word go to score an excellent half-century, scoring 51 off 29 balls. His fantastic record against India continues.
Glenn Maxwell: 8/10
Maxwell continued his good run in the ODI series as he did the job of a finisher once again scoring 41 off just 20 balls. His innovative batting outfoxed the Indian bowlers in the death overs. Just bowled one over.
George Bailey: 5/10
Bailey came to bat in the last five overs and had to play shots from the first ball. He was not able to stick around for a long time as he got out for 10.
James Faulkner: 5/10
With the bat, the all-rounder failed to get off the mark. Faulkner was hit all around the park by Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. He came back later on in the innings to snuff any possibility of an Indian win.
Matthew Wade: 4/10
Wade was also out for a duck and dropped a couple of catches, but he did latch on to a couple of catches.
John Hastings: 7/10
Hastings bowled terribly at the start of the Indian innings. But, his last over of the innings is what started the great Indian collapse when he picked up the wickets of Dhawan and MS Dhoni. He was the most economical of the Australian bowlers.
Kane Richardson: 8.5/10
Richardson picked up his first five-wicket haul in ODIs as Australia surged a late attack on the Indian batting lineup. Picked up the crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma and Kohli. His last over in the innings was a wicket-maiden. He also dropped a catch late in the innings.
Nathan Lyon: 4/10
Lyon made his comeback into the limted-overs squad, but failed to impress as he was hit everywhere by the Indian top-order. However, he did pick up the wicket of Gurkeerat Singh Mann.
India:
Rohit Sharma: 7.5/10
Started the Indian onslaught very well, but could not go on to make a good score. He scored a well-made 41 off 25 balls. Also, had a catch to his name.
Shikhar Dhawan: 9/10
After being criticised for his slow innings in the previous game, Dhawan showed glimpses of why the Indian management stuck with him. Scored a great knock of 126 to give India a good chance, although, he did give away his wicket at a very crucial point in the match.
Virat Kohli: 9/10
Kohli played a magnificent hundred, and he lost his wicket with probably the only bad shot he played. He ran between the wickets very well and showed yet again why he loves chasing, albeit, now in a losing cause.
MS Dhoni: 2/10
Dhoni, being the seniormost player in the Indian team, should have played more astutely after losing the wicket of Dhawan and lost his wicket for a duck.
Gurkeerat Singh Mann: 3/10
Gurkeerat showed some promise after hitting a boundary, however, he failed to deliver when it mattered most as he threw away his wicket. With the ball he leaked away runs at eight an over.
Ravindra Jadeja: 5.5/10
The Indian all-rounder was the most economical of the Indian bowlers on a wicket that had nothing for the bowlers. With the bat, he ran out of partners and could not carry the Indian team over the finishing line.
Ajinkya Rahane: 4/10
Rahane did not field for the whole of the Australian innings after an injury to his right hand. He could not contribute much with the bat after having four stitiches on his hand, but extra points for the courage the 27-year-old showed in coming out and trying to bat his side to a win.
Rishi Dhawan: 4/10
Another of the youngsters that failed to show the right temperament. He hit a brilliant boundary and then got carried away, thus giving away his wicket at a time when the game could still have not gone India's way. With the ball, Rishi bowled fairly well as he conceded under six runs an over when most of the others were expensive.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 2/10
Was selected in place of Barinder Sran, and failed to live up to the expecations as he gave away runs easily at 8.62 runs an over.
Umesh Yadav: 5.5/10
Yadav bowled well to pick up three wickets, although, at more than six an over. His batting performance was quite disappointing as he ate up a lot of balls when he should have given more of the strike to Jadeja.
Ishant Sharma: 7/10
Best of the Indian bowlers as he picked up four wickets. Started off well, but, did not keep the pressure on the batsmen in the death overs as he leaked away 77 runs in 10 overs.
Manish Pandey: NA
Was brought on to field for the injured Rahane, and did well in the field with a brilliant catch to dismiss Maxwell.