Australia piled up 272 runs after their skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first in the ongoing decider at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. The visitors got off to a good start as their openers Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja put on 76 runs for the opening stand. Khawaja was the aggressor whereas Finch took a cautious approach in the first ten overs.
Ravindra Jadeja provided the first breakthrough for the Indian side as he was able to get the turn in his first over. Jadeja was able to hit the top of off-stump and Finch was dismissed on 27 runs after facing 43 balls with the help of four fours.
Australia were 175-1.
On the other hand, Usman Khawaja continued his good form going. Khawaja and previous match centurion Peter Handscomb added 99 runs for the second wicket. Both the batsman rotated the strike at regular intervals to take Australia to a commanding position.
Khawaja continued his good form as he scored his second century of the series as well as his career. However, Khawaja was dismissed soon after completing his personal milestone. The left-hander was looking to clear the cover fielder but could not get the alleviation he was looking for.
Indian bowlers make a roaring comeback.
Subsequently, India was able to pick up the threads as Glenn Maxwell was dismissed early by Ravindra Jadeja. Maxwell like Khawaja could not clear Virat Kohli at the cover region.
Mohammed Shami got the extra bounce to take the outside edge of Peter Handscomb soon after the right-hander completed his fifty. The previous match hero Ashton Turner looked threatening but he was caught in the deep by Ravindra Jadeja.
Meanwhile, Marcus Stoinis played on against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took two wickets. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he scalped two wickets. In fact, the off-spinner gave away only 45 runs in his 10 overs quota. Furthermore, Shami also took two wickets in his spell.
However, Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson were able to add crucial runs in the end stage of the match.
Here is how Twitter reacts to the first innings:
Australian fans right now:#INDvAUS #MakeStatsGreatAgain @ImViratkohli @ESPNcricinfo pic.twitter.com/tUyYQsC5BE
— Mukesh Goyal (@goelmukesh15) March 13, 2019
Most ODI wickets for ??
Anil Kumble 334
Javagal Srinath 315
Ajit Agarkar 288
Zaheer Khan 269
Harbhajan Singh 265
Kapil Dev 253
V Prasad 196
Ravindra Jadeja 174*@IrfanPathan 173#INDvAUS— Akhil Gupta ? (@Guptastats92) March 13, 2019
In the ODI series decider, Team India bowlers pegged back Australia after a solid start at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi. #INDVAUS
— Tahir Ibn Manzoor (@TahirIbnManzoor) March 13, 2019
India should stop considering Jadeja as an all-rounder in ODI format…!!
— Prashi Relangi (@prashirelangi) March 13, 2019
This happening today. India playing five genuine bowlers ? I would have preferred Chahal to Jadeja though. https://t.co/uIJQyR56IB
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/krutosh/status/1105791407573237760
What a comeback this. Tells you India didn't bowl that well in the middle overs.
— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) March 13, 2019
Vijay should get as much credit as Jadeja for Maxwell's wicket. It was his effort off the previous delivery that kept it down to a single.
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) March 13, 2019
tactical collapse by australia to get turner in with enough overs to go #INDvAUS
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) March 13, 2019
This is an excellent start from Australia. The alarms after the Finch dismissal have gone. Khawaja is in prime form but I am also mighty impressed with Handscomb.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 13, 2019
Most runs in a 5-match ODI series vs India in India:
359 runs* – USMAN KHAWAJA, This series
358 runs – AB de Villiers, 2015
353 runs – Gordon Greenidge, 1983
353 runs – Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2009#INDvAUS— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) March 13, 2019
Usman Khawaja has shown great sense of timing through this series. Gets set, anchors Australia, gets big runs and when it is time to accelerate gets out to let others do slam bang. #IndvAus
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) March 13, 2019
@Uz_Khawaja 100 number 2, many more to come. Don't think we've seen the best of him yet. World Cup squad becoming tough to pick due to performance rather than hope now. #INDvAUS
— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) March 13, 2019
Usman Khawaja has now scored 747 runs (and counting) in 15 innings as an ODI opener. He has scored five fifties and two centuries from the position. Finch may be struggling but Khawaja is excelling. #INDvAUS
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) March 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/chineeeess/status/1105799764682178561
@Uz_Khawaja innings today is a prime example for youngsters on how to play risk free cricket while maintaining a 100+ strike rate throughout the innings.#Class #AusVsInd
— Syedaquilfarhan (@syedaquilfarhan) March 13, 2019
Kohli after every toss: We feel this is our best XI (athough it might not look anywhere close to the ones we have been playing the last couple of years).
— Alagappan Vijayakumar (@IndianMourinho) March 13, 2019
Indian seamers have bowled only one bouncer to Khawaja in this entire series. The one that dismissed him at Mohali. Curious case of the missing bouncer. #IndvAus
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 13, 2019