India leads 2-0 and Australia are desperate

cricketnews (47)in #cricket • 7 years ago (edited)

3rd ODI – India vs Australia
Sunday 24th September 2017

Australias woes on the sub-continent have continued with India taking a commanding 2-0 series lead after a resounding victory in Kolkata. On a pitch that was bouncy and providing seam movement the Australian fast bowlers were fancied to really challenge the Indian batsmen, but unlike in the first game the Indian top order seemed to have their measure early on. After winning the toss and electing to bat again Indias Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli combined to get them off to a commanding start.

Kohli and Rahane looked good during their partnership of 102

India was threatening to post a big total but the momentum of the game swung when Rahane was recklessly run out. The Australian bowlers fought back with a steady stream of wickets to keep the run rate under control. Then during the death overs fresh Australian selection Kane Richardson was impressive in taking 3 late wickets as the rain started to come down and the Indians were restricted to a very modest total of just 252.

Australian bowlers Agar and Richardson justified their call ups

With fresh moisture around the ground the Indian bowlers came out and were immediately threatening with sideways movement. Hilton Cartwright was bowled early again, this time scoring just 1 off 14 balls and David Warner didn’t fare any better with both of them being dismissed by the clever swing and seam of Bhuvneshwar Kumar to have Australia under the pump early at 2 for 9.

Kumar relished the conditions to claim both opening batsmen

Steve Smith and Travis Head then rode out the storm from the early new ball movement and combined to put on a solid partnership of 76 before Head gifted his wicket by flicking a full toss straight to Pandey at midwicket. Glenn Maxwell failed to fire this time around and it was all-rounder Marcus Stoinis who offered some hope by teaming up with Smith to get the Aussie chase back on track.

Smith and Head had the Australian chase on track

Once Smith was dismissed for 59 trying to pull a bouncer from Hardik Pandya that got a bit big on him it was a familiar horror show for the Australian lower order. Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav picked up a rare hat-trick as Wade, Agar and Cummins all fell in the 33rd over leaving the Australians reeling at 8 for 148 and it was pretty much all over at that point. The Australians eventually limped to a final total of 202 with Stoins left stranded on 62 not out.

Wrist spin did the job again triggering another Australian collapse

The series is now on the line with Australia desperate to stay in the contest as the third game looms at Indore. The pitch is expected to be quite flat for the next game so we might finally see a score over 300. The coin toss will be important as no doubt both teams would prefer to bat first and apply scoreboard pressure.

There are reports that Aaron Finch may be fit and that would surely mean an end to the experiment of Hilton Cartwright as opener and there is also a chance that Peter Handscomb could come in for Matthew Wade. Both of these changes would strengthen the feeble Australian batting order while India is expected to remain unchanged once again.

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