Team India registered a consolation 13-run victory over Australia in the third and final ODI at Manuka Oval, Canberra on Wednesday (December 2).
Opting to bat first, the visitors posted 302/5 on the board with significant contributions from Hardik Pandya (92* off 76 balls), Ravindra Jadeja (66* off 50 balls) and Virat Kohli (63 off 78 balls).
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In reply, the hosts got bowled out for 289 in 49.3 overs. Skipper Aaron Finch (75 off 82 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (59 off 38 balls) were the lone warriors for Australia during the chase.
For India, Shardul Thakur (3-51), Jasprit Bumrah (2-43) and T Natarajan (2-70) did the bulk of the damage with the ball.
Reflecting on the win, former India batsman VVS Laxman hoped that the Men in Blue take the winning momentum from the third ODI into the T20I series.
"Even though it was a dead rubber, India's desperation was evident. In the end, that manifested itself in a thrilling but well-deserved 13-run win in the final ODI in Canberra, a result they will hopefully use to gather momentum going into the T20I series starting on Friday,” Laxman wrote in his column for the Times of India.
He also showered rich praise on Shubman Gill, who opened the innings alongside Shikhar Dhawan and scored 33 runs in the final ODI.
"Virat won an important toss, but that doesn't mean anything if you don't put runs on the board. India's top-order got off to starts but with the exception of the skipper, no one carried on, which wasn't ideal. Shubman Gill played some stunning strokes until his dismissal, and he is one player whose progress I will follow with keen interest. Intelligent as he is, the young man will quickly realise the value of making good thing count," Laxman added.
If it was not for an unbroken 150-run partnership between Pandya and Jadeja, India would have struggled to post even 150 on the board.
"India were in a spot when they lost Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Virat in quick succession. Another wicket then, and the advantage of the toss would have been totally frittered away. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja ensured that didn't happen with an outstanding partnership that underpinned their growing maturity and composure as batsmen," Laxman opined.
"Hardik has the well-founded reputation of being a dasher, but in this series, he has shown that he can bat in more than one gear. His situational awareness has been exemplary, and he again demonstrated that he is as equipped to build an innings as he is adept at unleashing big strokes towards the end. He has been the biggest batting gain on this tour. Jadeja's batting has gone to another level following his World Cup semifinal half-century against New Zealand. He trusts his game a lot more and is thinking like a batsman. He and Pandya complemented each other beautifully to push the team past 300," he further remarked.
Australia were in the chase when Glenn Maxwell was at the crease. But Bumrah got the crucial breakthrough bowling Maxwell with a stunning yorker for 59 off 38 balls.
"Then, the real Jasprit Bumrah stood up. Desperately unlucky not to get wickets in his first spell, he extracted terrific bounce and considerable lateral movement with the new ball. It was great to see him back in his elements because it is this version that India need during the Test matches. The pressure he imposed resulted in wickets at the other end. This match reiterated that there is no substitute for wickets even in white-ball cricket. Had Australia batted out 50 overs, they would have romped home," Laxman concluded.
(With TOI inputs)
