Australia vs India 2018-19: 3rd ODI - Dhoni, Jadhav Takes India to Series Win

MS Dhoni took India to a thumping win over Australia in the decider of the series. Dhoni scored another fine knock of unbeaten 87 runs to take India over the line. The former skipper had the accompany of Kedar Jadhav who scored his fourth ODI fifty to play the second fiddle to Dhoni. Subsequently, the tourists chased down the target of 231 runs with seven wickets in hand.

1st Innings

India was given a perfect start by their premier fast bowler Bhuvneswar Kumar. The Indian pacer decided to change the angle and came around the wicket to Alex Carey. Kumar produced the outside edge of the wicketkeeper-batsman which was nicely taken by Indian skipper Virat Kohli at second slip.

On the other hand, Aaron Finch was always walking on thin ice as Australian skipper struggled with his form demons. In fact, Finch had a lucky escape when Ravindra Jadeja failed to hit the stumps from the point region. Furthermore, Finch had another reprieve when his outside edge flew through the vacant second slip area.

However, Finch finally ran out of luck when he was plumbed in front of the wickets by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In fact, Kumar pulled something out of the box on the prior ball of the dismissal. The Indian premier fast bowler bowled from way behind the stumps and Finch decided to back away. However, Kumar was not at all impressed by Finch and had a word with the standing umpire.

After taking two early wickets, Virat Kohli decided to go through some overs with Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav. The dual did a good job as they didn’t let the Australian batsmen off the hook. Shaun Marsh was finally able to break the shackles with a pull off Jadhav to get a boundary after almost nine overs. In fact, the second ODI centurion had a reprieve when he was dropped by MS Dhoni at the score of 11. Dhoni had a sub-standard day behind the stumps as he was not able to cleanly grab the ball on multiple occasions.

Meanwhile, the pitch was on the dry side as the Indian spinners were licking their lips. Yuzvendra Chahal who got his chance in the playing XI after a long time grabbed his chance with both hands.

Chahal got rid of Marsh who danced down the wicket. MS Dhoni was sharp behind the wickets as he was quick to take out the bails before the left-hander could make his way back into the crease. Subsequently, the leg-spinner had another gifted wicket when Usman Khawaja got a top edge to be out caught and bowled.

The leg-spinner bagged his third wicket when he squared Marcus Stoinis. Meanwhile, Peter Handscomb was the only batsman who looked good for Australia. The right-hander scored his third ODI fifty but didn’t get support from the other end.

Maxwell was taken brilliantly by Bhuvneshwar Kumar who came running in to take a good low catch. Chahal once again breathed down the neck of host’s batsmen in his second spell. The leg-spinner scalped six wickets for 42 runs to take his best bowling figures of ODI cricket.

2nd Innings:

India got off to a cautious start as both openers played in a sedate manner. Rohit Sharma played down the wrong line against Peter Siddle and Shaun Marsh took a good catch at first slip. The flamboyant right-hander decided to play across the line and had to pay the price for his poor shot.

Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan was caught and bowled by Marcus Stoinis. The Australian all-rounder took a sharp catch in his follow through and the southpaw batsman had to walk back. Indian captain Virat Kohli had a lucky escape when Peter Handscomb fluffed a chance at first slip.

On the other hand, India’s former skipper MS Dhoni was promoted to number four position. Dhoni had a reprieve on the first ball he faced as he played a cut shot straight to Glenn Maxwell who bungled a simple catch.

Dhoni was at his best.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli played with fire while running between the wickets. Australia had two more chances of run-out for both Kohli and Dhoni but the hosts could not grab them.

Both the previous match heroes Dhoni and Kohli added 54 runs for the third wicket. However, Kohli was beautifully set up by Jhye Richardson who bagged Indian skipper for the third time in the series. Richardson invited the drive and the right-hander felt in the trap and edged it to Alex Carey.

India was 113-3 at that stage and a big partnership was the need of the hour. Kedar Jadhav who was playing the first match of the tour batted with aplomb and scored his fourth fifty. The right-hander gave good support to MS Dhoni. The former Indian skipper once again rotated the strike with confidence. In fact, Dhoni continued with his penchant of taking the match deep. This was Dhoni’s third consecutive fifty of the series and it must have added a shot in the arm to him. Dhoni was also adjudged the Man of the series.