India beats Australia by 7 wickets
MS Dhoni smashed an unbeaten knock of 87 runs, while Kedar Jadhav scored 61 (not out) as India beat Australia by seven wickets in Melbourne to clinch the three-match One Day International series 2-1 on Friday. Dhoni and Jadhav shared an unbeaten 121-run stand for the fourth wicket to help India create history Down Under. It is India’s first-ever ODI bilateral series triumph in Australia.
India win in Melbourne to take the series 2-1!
MS Dhoni’s 87*, his third consecutive half-century, and 61* from Kedar Jadhav lead the way as Australia’s 230 is chased down for a seven wicket victory.#AUSvIND scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/TnQ5ZSZFxQ pic.twitter.com/NuMvUtbsMK
— ICC (@ICC) January 18, 2019
In the chase of 231, India lost their vice-captain Rohit Sharma early for nine runs, but Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli contributed with 23 and 46 runs respectively. For Australia, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, and Marcus Stoinis claimed a wicket each but couldn’t defend the small total.
Earlier, Yuzvendra Chahal claimed six wickets, his second five-wicket haul in ODIs, as India bundled out Australia for 230 runs in 48.4 overs in the third and final match of the series. Peter Handscomb top-scored for Australia with 58 runs off 63 balls. Fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar chipped in with two wickets each for India.
Recently, India had won their first ever Test series in Australia. In the ODI series, Australia won the first match in Sydney by 34 runs and India won the second in Adelaide by six wickets. India had never won a bilateral ODI series on Australian soil before, and their only series win in the 50-over format came in 1985 (World Championship of Cricket) and 2008 (CB Series). With this, India has finished the 2018-19 tour without losing a series.
Another Trophy in the cabinet. 2-1 🇮🇳🇮🇳
Jai Hind #TeamIndia #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/oq101deoed— BCCI (@BCCI) January 18, 2019
Kohli and Dhoni did what they do best. Grind out oppositions. First, the skipper had a 44-run stand with Dhawan. Then added 54 with his former captain. And then, when things seemed to be in Australia’s control with Kohli getting out, Kedar Jadhav came out and eased out all fears. His unbeaten 121-run stand with Dhoni would have instilled a tremendous amount of confidence in the Indian think tank. Yes. Their batting looks even stronger now, with the middle order stepping up.
T20 series tied. Test series won. ODI series won. Boy, what a tour it has been for India. They were expected to win but they have not allowed the Aussies to win more than 3 matches in 10 outings. Superb. Take a bow.
