Twitter reacts as Kohli's century against Australia at Ranchi goes in vainย
India clinched victories in the first two ODI fixtures against Australia but the visitors have made their mark for the first time in the third match. Even Virat Kohli's 41st ODI century could not help India win the match as rest of the batsmen failed to deliver.
After winning the toss, India asked the Kangaroos to bat first. Australian openers - Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja - dictated terms for the most part of the innings. They started off well by scoring 52 runs in the first powerplay.
In the next 10 overs, they added 72 more runs to the scoreboard without much trouble. Just when the partnership was nearing the double century mark, Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Finch 7 runs short of a century.
Glenn Maxwell, the next batsmen to come in, went berserk and did not allow the bowlers to settle down. Khawaja, on the other hand, went onto notch up his first ODI century but was soon dismissed after scoring his maiden ODI century.
Even after Khawaja got out, Maxwell continued to play his shots. He threatened to take Australia past 350 but a fantastic run out from the dynamic duo of Dhoni and Jadeja put an end to his magnificent innings.
Two overs later, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb got dismissed off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav but that did not stop Australia from going past 300. Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey scored at a good rate and took their team to a total of 313 in 50 overs.
During the chase, India lost their openers - Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma early in the innings. Ambati Rayudu too soon followed the suit putting India in trouble as India reduced to 27-3 in the first powerplay.
Later, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni stitched a half-century partnership for the fourth wicket. Just when the duo was looking good, Adam Zampa dismissed the hometown hero in the 20th over.
In spite of wickets falling at the other end, Virat Kohli kept India in the chase by scoring 123 runs off just 95 balls. Once, Kohli fell prey to Zampa in the 39th over the game was all but over for.
Even the efforts of Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja could not help India win the match. As a result, Australia won the match by 32 runs and registered their first win of the series.
Here's how Twitter reacted to the third ODI between India and Australia at Ranchi: