On Wednesday, Australia sealed the five-match ODI series against India by defeating them by 35 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. The visitors thumped the Men in Blue by restricting them to runs while they were chasing the 273-run target set by the Aaron Finch-led Aussies. In what can be termed as a sensational comeback, Australia won three games in a row to seal the ODI series after losing the first two matches in Hyderabad and Nagpur respectively.
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It is to be noted that the Virat Kohli-led side were outplayed by the rejuvenated Aussies as the visitors completed perfect revenge after losing the ODI and Test series against India earlier in 2019 at their home soil. The bilateral ODI series defeat against Australia is India’s first under the leadership of Kohli, who has enjoyed unprecedented success at home till now.
However, batting first, Australia posted a target of 273 for India after Usman Khawaja smashed a sensational ton, his second of the series, to power the visitors to a competitive target in Delhi. Peter Handsomb, with his fifty, supported Khawaja brilliantly, whereas Jhye Richardson (29) and Pat Cummins (15) played some lusty blows during the death overs to accelerate their score.
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TO be noted that chasing the 273-run target, India were off to a torrid start after opener Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for a paltry 12 runs by Pat Cummins, whereas Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant soon followed Dhawan back to the pavilion for 20 and 16 runs respectively. Vijay Shankar also failed to live up to the expectations as he got bamboozled by Adam Zampa for a mere 16 runs, while Ravindra Jadeja was sent packing for a duck.
However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (46) and Kedar Jadhav (44) stitched a brilliant partnership at the end but were unable to take India over the winning line as the Aussies wrapped up the ODI series in style and would be extremely confident for the upcoming 2019 World Cup. The series ends 3-2 in favour of Australia, in what was India's last series before the World Cup.