Ranchi: Virat Kohli (123, 95b) looked like a ‘Man on a Mission’ wearing the camouflage army cap for the better part of his 41st ODI hundred but that wasn’t enough to prevent India from losing the third ODI against Australia by 32 runs here Friday.
Usman Khawaja’s (104, 113b) hundred and Aaron Finch’s (93, 99b) saw Australia put up a more than decent 313/5 and India could manage only 281 in 48.2 overs, that too solely due to Kohli.
It was yet another superlative effort from the Indian skipper, who lacked adequate support from the other end as Australia kept the five-match series consequential going into the fourth game in Chandigarh Sunday.
The skipper launched a brutal assault on the Australian bowlers. From gorgeous looking cover drives to delectable on-drives and those deft touches everything was present in a bouquet. The true nature of the pitch helped him hit through the line as he smashed 16 fours and a six.
However Adam Zampa (3/70), by far the most impactful Aussie bowler, yorked the Indian skipper after having accounted for former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (26). He did get hit but he would any day take wickets of Kohli, Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav (26) in return.
Kohli had three significant partnerships — 59 with Dhoni for the fourth wicket, 88 with Jadhav for the fifth wicket and 45 with Vijay Shankar for the sixth — but none good enough to take India across the line.
Shikhar Dhawan (1), Rohit Sharma (14) and Ambati Rayudu (2) were dismissed cheaply as India was left tottering at 27 for three and it was always a difficult task from there on.
After winning the toss, Indian pacers covered up commendably for a rare off-day endured by the spinners as visitors were restricted to 313 for five despite a 193-run opening stand between skipper Finch and Khawaja.
Khawaja scored his maiden ODI century while Finch chose this particular match to get back to form. Maxwell (47, 31b) also contributed with lusty blows.
The Indian spinners — Ravindra Jadeja (0/64) and Kedar Jadhav (0/32) — were carted all around the park. Kuldeep Yadav (3/64), however, redeemed himself at the back-end of the innings.
The trio gave away 160 runs in 22 overs and it was left to Jasprit Bumrah (0/53) and Mohammed Shami (1/52) to maintain the discipline during the final overs as the total could have gone close to the 350-run mark.
In the final 10 overs, Australia could score only 69 runs, despite being 244 for two after 40 overs, courtesy Bumrah and Shami who bowled 64 dot balls between them.
Brief scores: Australia 313/5 (Usman Khawaja 104, Aaron Finch 93; Kuldeep Yadav 3/64) beat India 281 (Virat Kohli 123; Pat Cummins 3/37, Jhye Richardson 3/37) by 32 runs.
