India’s all-rounders pull one back
Pandya’s 92* and Jadeja’s 66* give visitors 13-run victory as pacer Natarajan takes two on debut
NEW DELHI: For a contest that had little bearing on the series, India had a lot to look forward to in the third and last ODI in Canberra on Wednesday. Making his debut was left-arm pacer T Natarajan, whose ability to deliver yorkers at will has made him the find of this IPL. Also making a comeback after sitting out of the first two ODIs was Kuldeep Yadav, India’s very own mystery Chinaman who has seen his value drop a bit after a forgettable IPL. With Ravindra Jadeja in the mix, it was one of those rare occasions when the Indian bowling attack had three left-handers. Shardul Thakur too played his first game of the series.
Natarajan was belted for a six in just his third delivery by Aaron Finch but came back to remove Marnus Labuschagne in his third over and then scalped Ashton Agar in the 48th. The bowler from Salem, whose meteoric rise from tennis ball exponent to local league find to IPL heroics and India debut in a matter of just a handful of years has become cricket’s story of the year, finished on 70/2. Thakur was even better as he picked three crucial wickets—Steve Smith, Moises Henriques and Sean Abbott—to end on 51/3. Yadav gave away 57/1 in his 10 overs. While the team management’s experiments gave a decent account of themselves, the proven performers of the Indian team complemented in equal measure to clinch their first win of the Australia tour.
After setting a target of 303, the visitors dismissed Australia for 289. The 13-run win averted a clean sweep as the hosts pocketed the series 2-1. More importantly, with the three-T20I series starting on Friday, this win will boost the confidence of a team that lost by big margins in the first two matches.
Batting first, India looked to be in danger at the halfway stage with their top four batsmen gone inside 25 overs. Virat Kohli, who became the fastest to score 12000 ODI runs (in 242 innings) during the match, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record, tried to stem the rot, but, for the third time this series, fell to a short ball from Josh Hazlewood in the 32nd over. Hardik Pandya, India’s best bet with the bat on tour so far, and Ravindra Jadeja then took control. India were 152/5 when the duo started their stand. By the end of the innings, their partnership was worth 150*, the third highest sixth wicket ODI stand by India. Fully aware of the fact that the Manuka Oval pitch was a lot slower than the ones used at the SCG in the first two ODIs, the two waited for their chances. Pandya scored a very uncharacteristic and patient half-century off 55 balls and only started belting out the big hits from the 46th over with Sean Abbott the target. Jadeja too joined forces and brought up a 43-ball half-century with a hattrick of fours against the same bowler in the 48th over. The last five overs resulted in 76 runs.
With over 300 runs on board, Indian bowlers had a decent total to defend. Jasprit Bumrah, who had leaked over 70 runs in each of the first two ODIs, looked to have found his old touch. In his first spell that lasted five overs, he breathed fire. He was fast, accurate and the Australian top-order looked clueless. The deliveries whizzed past the bat by the slightest of margins.
Had Shikhar Dhawan not dropped Finch at first slip in the seventh over, Bumrah would have got his first wicket in the powerplay. At the other end, Natarajan gave India its first wicket in powerplay in this series when Labuschagne attempted a pull against his short ball but bottom-edged it to be bowled. Thakur varied his pace well and picked the most important wicket of them all as Smith tried to glance him down leg but was caught by KL Rahul.
Finch rode his luck to a 82-ball 75 but it was Glenn Maxwell, who completed his second half-century of the series in 33 balls, who looked to take the game away. Bumrah came back to bowl him out with a yorker in the 45th over. Australia were 268/7 then, but could manage only 21 more.
Brief scores: India 302/5 (H Pandya 92*, R Jadeja 66*; A Agar 2/44) beat Australia 289 all out (A Finch 75; S Thakur 3/51) by 13 runs