India takes on Australia in the 3rd ODI at Holkar Stadium, Indore tomorrow. The second ODI match played at iconic Eden Garden’s saw some exciting battle between two teams. Batting first, Virat Kohli and Rahane put up 102 runs stand for the second wicket. Apart from that none of Indian batsmen could contribute. Indian team was bowled out for 252 in 50 overs. The Indian captain scored 92 while Rahane made 55 runs.
While in the bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2 early wickets which put pressure on the Australian batting line up and also ended the game with the wicket of Kane Richardson. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled with great control. Kuldeep Yadav was the star who took an hattrick which changed the course of the game in favor of India. Hardik Pandya also took important wickets of Steve Smith and Nathan Coulter Nile.
Australia bowled well with Nathan Coulter Nile, Pat Cummins and Kane Richardson bowling with great control. In the batting department, apart from Steve Smith, Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis who remained not out on 62, none of the Australian batsmen contributed. Australia was bowled out for 202 in 43.1 overs.
India will be looking to their top order to score big runs with Rohit Sharma and Rahane laying a foundation for a big total. Manish Pandey failed to contribute in the second match also. The Indian team management must think of bringing KL Rahul in place of Pandey. It was a great bowling effort by Indian spinners especially by Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya also bowled well which helped team India to win the match by 50 runs.
Australia has serious thinking to do with their batting lineup. The openers, David Warner and Cartwright. Aaron Finch who missed the first two games due to injury might come back into the team.
The experienced Steve Smith must score big runs in order to put pressure on the Indian bowlers. Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and other inexperienced batsmen must tackle a good quality Indian line. Matthew Wade did contribute much with the bat in the first two matches. Peter Handscomb could come in as his replacement. Adam Zampa could be another choice for Australia.
According to Indore curator, Samandar Singh Chauhan the pitch will be a better and would help the wrist spinners. If Australia does not play with positive intent against Indian spinners, then India would win the series and also consolidate their number 1 position in ODI cricket.