India vs Australia, 3rd ODI: Hits and Misses
The Indian cricket team did complete justice to their newly-acquired Number 1 status in ODI cricket when they thumped Australia by five wickets to take an unaccessible 3-0 lead in the 5-match series against the visitors.
The most commendable aspects of this victory were the tremendous comeback that Indian bowlers made to neutralize Australia's fiery start and the crucial performances with the bat from Hardik Pandya and Manish Pandey.
The win has propelled India to its sixth consecutive series win and 9th consecutive match win. Virat Kohli is on the cusp of breaking and making records as a captain and now has as many as 30 ODI wins in just 38 matches.
Let us look at the hits and misses of the third ODI:
#1 Hit: The Indian opening pair
After reducing Australia to a below-par total 293 in the first innings, India carried their momentum into the second innings. Openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma ensured that they did fall to the pace of Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter Nile and slowly stitched a beautiful partnership between them with every passing over.
India raced to 139-0 in less than 22 overs, thereby building a strong foundation for the batsmen to follow. Both the batsmen scored in excess of 70 runs and did not let Smith and his then-sledging men get into their heads.
Also, when Rahane and Rohit are batting with confidence, a beautiful spectacle ensues. The stakes were high for both the batsmen and they had to perform in this game to keep the naysayers at bay. Both did so gorgeously while hitting some textbook-perfect shots through the length of their innings.