Hardik, Jadeja, Bumrah end India's ODI rut, avert series sweep against Australia
Thirteen-run win in third and final ODI ended a five-match losing streak for India
Thirteen-run win in third and final ODI ended a five-match losing streak for India
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Karthik Krishnaswamy
10.46pm Right then, that's all from us from this ODI series. We hope you've enjoyed it as much as we did. The T20Is will begin soon, and there's a whole lot of other cricket going on around the world right now too (I wonder if this would have seemed possible six months ago), so keep tuning into our coverage, and keep sending in your comments. Until next time, goodbye!
Nilay: "This game was really good from the perspective that we have T20 series now; good middle over wickets, great death bowling, Bumrah getting vack in the froove(excellent for the Tests too), and also Pandya Power. The series would be good one to look forward for."
Varun Gande: "The curse of the Jadeja fifty is finally broken: India had previously never won an ODI when Jadeja passed 50."
Pizza: "Unpopular opinion but, the toss needs to be scrapped. In a series where both teams consistently scored 300+, and both teams winning every time they won the toss, it's hard to pinpoint who is the better team. Either that, or we need more matches, like a 5-match ODI series to be able to tell " -- I don't think the toss makes this much of a difference normally, so this feels like one of those anomalous series that crop up from time to time.
Aaron Finch: "We fought really well today, just fell a little short. Obviously great partnership between Hardik and Jadeja, we might have been in a good position if we'd nabbed one of them early. I thought Cameron Green came in and made an impact with ball and bat, and showed he belongs at the international level. Ashton Agar played well too, so it was good to get them in and get some information on them. Makes the 50 overs go a little quicker [with two spinners] and the impact they've had is quite important too. That's been our recipe in T20 for a while now. It's nice when guys in the top order have really good contributions, and then Maxy can come in and do his thing in the back end. I thought Alex Carey, Moises, these guys did well too. Hopefully [Starc] is back for the T20s. Just a niggly thing with the back."
Virat Kohli: "It's particularly pleasing that we were under the pump for the first half of our innings, and second half of Australia's, and we fought back both times. One guy making his debut, Shubman coming back, that brought us some freshness. I think the pitch was much better in terms of helping the bowlers, so obviously the confidence levels go up. We were able to put Australia under pressure because of that fact as well. Playing international cricket for 13-14 years, you should be able to come back like we did. I would have liked to go on for a bit longer, but we had a great partnership between Hardik and Jadeja. It was exactly what the team needed to get that boost, even though we've lost the series. We played with heart and desire, and that's what you need to do in Australia."
Steven Smith, Player of the Series: "The pitch did a bit more with the new ball. Both quicks bowled really well up front from both teams, so probably a little bit different to the SCG. Hopefully a day off [tomorrow] and then come over here just before the [first T20I], that would be ideal."
Hardik Pandya is the Player of the Match. "It's fantastic. Been working really hard to make sure I play for my country, so I'm really happy to be playing this series. Natarajan is quite a story, quite an inspiration with the background he's come from. You need to be on your toes to compete against Australia. I feel that you always have that extra edge in you when you play against Australia, you want to face up to that challenge."
"I'm fine if Jadeja keeps that role," he adds, when Shane Warne asks him if he's taken away the Rockstar mantle. "I'm a father now."
Dhaval Shah: "Now that we have won this match, I would like to still point out a major setback we have in our batting line-up and batting approach. I feel we need players like Pant and Pandya to match the approach by teams like England and Australia. Pandya has proved today as well. But Pant is as important in the batting line-up. He should be developed and groomed and given a longer run."
Arun: "Can we just point out that just a little bit of life in the pitch made the game so more interesting"
Prasanna S: "Not to take any credit away from Australia but the win equation is = number of tosses won and team batting first. Had India won one of the tosses, it could have gone either way, they managed 300+ in all the games."
Prasad: "It's inaccurate and unfair to say Thakur did a Plunkett impression. Not being jingoistic or anything, but more than player be an exponent of something. Cross-seam bowlers should be thought of as a subset, much like the holding midfielder subset." -- Yup, yup. It was just a comment on how effectively he used the weapon.
10.28pm A dead rubber, but they're often really entertaining. Today's game had so much packed into it, and in the end, the most significant bit of the action was an outstanding sixth-wicket partnership between Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, which hauled India past 300. There was just enough in this pitch to interest the bowlers, contrary to the ground's ODI history, and India made good use of it to put up their most convincing bowling display of the series. Shardul Thakur did his best Liam Plunkett impression with his cross-seam smarts, and Jasprit Bumrah bowled excellently and could have had a lot more wickets on another day. An encouraging debut for T Natarajan as well, despite getting carted around briefly by Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell could, and possibly should, have won this game for Australia, but he made a significant contribution for the third successive innings, and he's put that horror IPL far, far behind him. I thought Agar and Zampa bowled really well for Australia too.
A Zampa lbw b Bumrah 4 (7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 57.14
14 off 5. A six now could make this very interesting...
Nitin: "Two generations of Kookaburra bats batting together."
Bumrah round the wicket to Hazlewood.
WATCH - Bumrah nails a yorker to dismiss Maxwell (India subcontinent only)
Jigar Shah: "That Bumrah Smile was exactly same when Dhawan Dropped Finch and when he bowled maxwell. Shows a lot about temperament "
"I just see it as a different part of the evolution of the game," the allrounder said after his 100-metre shot
Thirteen-run win in third and final ODI ended a five-match losing streak for India
The team's bench-strength is yet to assume the proportions of 20 or so years ago when they dominated the cricket world
The last seven games here have all been won by the side batting first, six of them while defending 320-plus
Fantasy suggestions for the final ODI between Australia and India