Australia vs India, 3rd ODI: Player Ratings
After winning the second ODI and with MS Dhoni’s return to form, the Indians were high on confidence coming into the series decider at the MCG. Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bowl first taking into account the overcast conditions.
Alex Carey was dismissed cheaply and Aaron Finch was once again worked over by a trademark Bhuvneshwar Kumar inswinger. After missing out on the first two games, Yuzvendra Chahal immediately made his presence felt by picking up the wickets of Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja in his first over itself.
Chahal bowled beautifully and got rid of Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb with quick sliders. He finished with figures of 6-42 and India were given a target of 231. The openers disappeared quickly but Virat Kohli and Dhoni once again combined for a big partnership. In the end, a huge partnership between Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav game India the match and the historic series victory as well.
Here are the player ratings for this game:
Australia
Alex Carey – 2
This has been a very forgettable series for Carey and his misery continued as he edged Bhuvneshwar to Virat Kohli with just 5 runs to his name.
Aaron Finch – 3
The habit of planting his pad in front of the stumps continues to trouble him and Bhuvneshwar once again got the better of him with an accurate in-swinger.
Usman Khawaja – 7
Looked in good touch and worked hard to build the innings along with Marsh but failed to pick Chahal properly and eventually paid the price for it.
Shaun Marsh – 7
He continued his good form in this game by timing the ball well and splitting the gaps with ease but would have preferred to go on and make a big century.
Peter Handscomb – 8
Displayed good composure to bail Australia out of a difficult situation but misjudged a slider from Chahal and was trapped in front of the stumps.
Marcus Stoinis – 5
Could not contribute much with the bat but bowled well in the death overs while under immense pressure.
Glenn Maxwell – 6.5
Threatened to take the momentum from India’s hands by striking the ball hard and making the bowler adjust his line but was dismissed after a brilliant catch from Bhuvi.
Jhye Richardson – 8.5
The youngster has been Australia’s best bowler this series and was once again very economical with the ball. He used the bowling crease well to take the wicket of Kohli.
Adam Zampa – 7.5
Could not take a wicket but bowled a disciplined line and length to deny the batsmen any room to hit the ball.
Billy Stanlake – 7
Used his height to extract bounce from the pitch and troubled the batsmen.
Peter Siddle – 6.5
The Indians regularly targeted him and he did not help his teams' cause by bowling short at a medium pace.