A 13-run win over Australia in the third and final ODI, India skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday Need to play with heart and desire when you come Down Under pressure.
While India opened their account in the ODI Super League with the win, Australia took the series 2-1. Luck was on India’s side, to begin with as Kohli won the toss for the first time in the series and decided to bat. While the top-order failed to fire in unison, the middle-order rose to the challenge and both Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja played match-winning knocks of 92 and 66 respectively to guide India to 302/5. Virat Kohli himself got among the runs as he played a knock of 63 runs.
“It’s particularly pleasing that we were under the pump for the first half of our innings and the second half of Australia’s, and we fought back both times. One guy making his debut, Shubman coming back, that brought us some freshness. I think the pitch was much better in terms of helping the bowlers, so obviously, the confidence levels go up. We were able to put Australia under pressure because of that fact as well,” said Kohli during the post-match presentation.
“Playing international cricket for 13-14 years, you should be able to come back as we did. I would have liked to go on for a bit longer, but we had a great partnership between Hardik and Jadeja. It was exactly what the team needed to get that boost, even though we’ve lost the series. We played with heart and desire, and that’s what you need to do in Australia,” he added.
The addition of Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, and Kuldeep Yadav also rejuvenated the bowling in the third ODI as the side was finally able to take wickets at regular intervals.
For the first time in the last six ODIs, the Men in Blue also managed to take a wicket in the powerplay overs. Aaron Finch played a knock of 75 runs, while Glenn Maxwell and Aston Agar tried their best to take Australia over the line. But in the end, Kohli and the boys managed to hang on to register a 13-run win.
Thakur scalped three wickets while Natarajan and Bumrah took two wickets each. India and Australia will now lock horns in the three-match T20I series, beginning Friday.
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