Richardson is having fun out there: clobbers 19 off Shami's final over. He finishes with three for 77. But the joy is short-lived as Bumrah comes back for the final over and nips out the final wicket off the first ball. A comprehensive 36-run win for India and they level the three-match series 1-1 with the decider to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
WICKET! Saini traps Agar in front with a brute yorker. Australia now 274/8. He gets rid of Starc now and the end is nigh for the Aussies.
WICKET ! Turner is cleaned up by Shami and India is inching closer to a series-levelling win in Rajkot. WICKET! Shami rattles Cummins' woodwork with yet another yorker. Two in two and he is on a hat-trick. LOUD SHOUT FOR LBW BUT NOT GIVEN. That looked agonisingly close but replays suggest it was going down leg. But what an over this from Shami. A couple of wickets and four runs. AUS 263/7 after 44 Overs.
Agar is keeping Australia in the hunt. Starts off with two back-to-back boundaries against Saini in the 43rd over. But Rohit Sharma seems to have hurt himself in an attempt to save the boundary. He is in serious pain and is receiving medical attention as we speak. He could be seen holding his left arm. Rohit, running across from sweeper cover made a tumbling effort, hurting his hand. AUS 259/5 after 43 Overs.
TIMBER! Smith plays on and that's a big wicket. Kuldeep Yadav, who was having a bad day in the office, has now picked two big wickets in quick succession. He falls for 98 ! Just the opening India needed. Ashton Turner is the new man in.
Smith carves one through deep backward point for four. He moves to 96. Alex Carey holes out. Big blow considering his power-hitting abilities. Kuldeep with the breakthrough. A 100 ODI wickets for Kuldeep. Australia needs 121 off 76.
Australia has gone past the 200-run mark. It's key Australia doesn't lose any more wickets at this stage. Smith is set and nearing a 100, Carey at the other end will look to play the odd big shot to keep up with the asking rate. Smith is nearing the nineties after a slog-sweep for six. AUS 209-3 after 35 Overs.
WICKET! Jadeja gets the key wicket of Labuschagne. Massive breakthrough for India as the ODI debutant skips down the track and chips the ball straight into the hands of Shami at long-off. He falls four short of a well-deserved fifty. Alex Carey is the new man in.
Labuschagne took the aerial route off the last ball of Jadeja in the 27th over, easing the pressure built after only two came off the previous 11 deliveries. Bumrah, who had six left, has been brought into the attack. The Aussies will be wary of the threat he poses. The required run rate is not a problem given Australia have two set batsmen at the crease and eight wickets in hand. 4-0-2-7-0: Bumrah's first spell . Labuschagne plays a delectable straight drive off Bumrah. The two terrific run getters in Test cricket showing off their prowess in the limited-overs format. AUS 163/2 after 28 Overs.
Runs now coming easily for the Australian duo. Marnus nails a flighted delivery past mid-wicket for four. Kuldeep has been expensive so far, going at more than seven runs an over. The partnership between Smith and Marnus is now 50-plus. Saini is back into the attack. He goes for six. Smith is shifting gears, taking on Jadeja. A slider on middle and leg is whipped away for four. AUS 150/2 after 25 Overs. Australia needs 191 runs.
Marnus has come to India on the back of an excellent summer. In the five Tests ( 2 vs Pakistan, 3 vs New Zealand), he amassed 896 runs at an average of 112. Smith, though modest returns by his standards, racked up 254 runs at an average of 36.28. The two now stand between India and victory. Smith has ensured Australia keep getting one boundary every over. He has brought up his fifty in the meantime. AUS 132/2 after 22 Overs.
The onus will be on Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to bail Australia out of the choppy waters. Remember, the pair's usually inseparable at the crease. Both like crisis situations and are adept at dropping anchor and playing big innings. India will be wary of the duo. Smith, after a slow start, has picked up pace. He is batting on a run-a-ball 42. He has Marnus for company. Could Labuschagne, in his first ODI, be the one to guide Australia home? AUS 112/2 after 19 Overs.
Ravi Jadeja gets a breakthrough. Great work behind the stumps from KL. Finch misses and KL has the bails off in a flash. Finch had struggled to get going and has finally perished; required a tossed up delivery to lure him out. Finch goes for it but is undone by the turn, the ball spins past the outside edge and KL does the rest. Kuldeep Yadav, meanwhile, has rolled his arm for the first time this innings. AUS 86/2 after 16 Overs.
Ravindra Jadeja into the attack at the end of the first Powerplay. Five singles off it in the end. Saini to continue. Three from this over with a close shave for Smith, who would've been a goner had Rohit connected with his under-arm flick at the non-striker's end. Luckily for Smith and Australia, Rohit missed. AUS 63/1 after 12 Overs.
Shami is greeted back into the attack by Finch, who uses Shami's pace and scythes it through point for four. Much needed boundary for the skipper. Shami errs in length again; digs one in short and Finch pulls it away for four more. 10 off the over. SHOT! First boundary for Smith and it's a trademark strike: shuffles across and times it past deep mid-wicket for four. Make that two in two. Saini taking the beating now. Smith has drilled one down long-off for his third boundary of the over. AUS 55/1 after 10 Overs.
ICYMI: Shikhar Dhawan got hit on the rib-cage on his right side. He will not be taking the field today. Yuzvendra Chahal is in as his substitute.
Back-to-back maidens for Bumrah. India's tour of Australia later this year will be a riveting contest, especially with Smith now back in the fold. Coming back to the over, Bumrah, constantly clocking speeds in excess of 140, had Smith hopping and swaying with some of his short pitched bowling. Navdeep Saini is first change. Finch has been shackled by some disciplined bowling from Indian pacers. Good start from the Delhi seamer. Just three from it. AUS 33/1 after 8 overs.
Maiden over from Bumrah. He is getting the ball to nip back into the right-hander. Finch felt he missed out on a scoring shot off the fourth ball when Bumrah gave him some room with the away swinger. Bumrah has exploited the region around off really well so far. Shami now testing Smith... a loud appeal for lbw turned down and Kohli decides against reviewing it, rightly so. Seven from it. AUS 30/1 after 6 Overs.
Bumrah concedes five wides. He is testing Finch with the inswinger. Finch has had troubles against the incoming delivery in the past. Bumrah has looked in good rhythm so far: pitching the ball up and getting the batsman to drive. Six runs from it. Shami, at the other end, draws first blood: Warner clobbers one over deep mid-wicket before holing out to Pandey, who takes a one-handed blinder. Smith in at 3. Saini is back on the field. AUS 23/1 after 4 Overs.
We are back with the run chase. Warner and Finch to start proceedings. Jasprit Bumrah with the new ball. Chahal is on the field for Dhawan. Good start from Bumrah, just one run off it in the end. Just the one slip in that over. Mohammed Shami to share the new ball. Warner times it sublimely to long-off for his first four of the innings. Just a mere push is all. Nine off the over. AUS 10/0 after 2 Overs. Saini seems to have twisted his ankle and is getting some medical attention as we speak.
=========================
Excellent last over so far from Starc. KL Rahul is run out for 80 off 52 balls. Two balls to go. Five runs off it. India finishes on 340/6. Australia needs 341 to go 2-0 up and seal the ODI series.
KL Rahul's playing a gem of an innings. He has got stuck into Pat Cummins now: hammers a four and a six, collecting 14 from it. He has moved to 79 off just 50 balls. IND 335-5 with six balls left. How many more can India get?
JUST IN: India has been penalized 5 runs for a repeated offence of running on the pitch. Australia will start at 5/0.
KL Rahul's run-glut continues. Gets to his fifty with a boundary square of the wicket. He follows it up with a maximum over sweeper cover. Starc getting a pounding. Expensive over: 15 from it. Four overs to go. IND 302/5 after 46 Overs.
Kane Richardson [7.0-0-52-1] is back into the attack. Six runs from the over. Zampa gets Kohli! Great team work by Ashton Agar and Mitchell Starc near the ropes. Kohli falls for 78. India four down. Manish Pandey in at 6. Four runs and the big wicket of Kohli from that over. Zampa's figures today: 10-0-50-3. IND 280/4 after 44 Overs.
Kohli in his element now. He picks this one from outside off and swats it between long-on and deep mid-wicket for four. Zampa, his previous record notwithstanding, hasn't had the upper hand on Kohli today. He still has n over left though. KL Rahul joins the fun: straight bats a six off Agar and the partnership between the two is now over 60. 13 from Agar's eighth. IND 270/3 after 42 Overs.
Kohli and KL are slowly starting to up the ante. Virat's nearing in on yet another ODI hundred while KL is moving at just over run-a-ball. The partnership is 43 off 38 balls. Kohli on 65, Rahul on 20. IND 241/3 after 39 Overs.
Kohli gets to his fifty with a single off Zampa. That's his 56th fifty in one-day internationals. Pat Cummins is back into the attack. Kohli greets him with two back-to-back fours. This is where he can be so dangerous. Nine from the Cummins over. IND 225/3 after 36 Overs.
Zampa's back. He gets a breakthrough straightaway, Iyer is castled and India are three down. That was an unnecessary shot from Iyer. Lokesh Rahul, right handed bat, comes to the crease. Excellent over: two runs and a wicket. Starc to continue. KL carves one through extra cover for four. 200 up for India. Now Kohli punches one through deep extra for four. 12 from the over. IND 211/3 after 34 Overs.
Richardson is peppering Iyer with short balls. He is happy to duck at the moment. Yet another short ball, outside off this time and sits up for Iyer to pull it for four. Seven from the over. Mitchell Starc is back into the attack. Just three from the over. IND 197/2 after 32 Overs.
Cummins Kane Richardson returns into the attack. Dhawan cruising towards a hundred, moves to 96 with a boundary straight down the ground. Richardson gets his revenge next ball;
Dhawan is caught at fine-leg for 96. Shreyas Iyer joins Kohli. Seven runs and a wicket from the over.
Zampa is back into the attack. Just three from it.
IND 187/2 after 30 Overs.
Dhawan is dictating terms and Agar is a mere spectator. The left-arm spinner bowls one right in the slot for Dhawan, who launches it over deep mid-wicket for six. He follows it up with a boundary to backward square leg. 12 off the over. He moves into the nineties with a boundary off Marnus . IND 177/1 after 28 Overs.
Dhawan is starting to flex his muscles now: launches Agar over deep mid-wicket for four before reverse sweeping the next delivery for four more. 10 runs off it. Marnus Labuschagne has been brought into the attack, and is cut away for four by Dhawan. Nothing delivery from Marnus: short and wide, allowing Dhawan to free his arms. Eight from it. IND 159/1 after 26 Overs.
Agar's third goes for five. The partnership between Virat and Dhawan is now 55 off 57. Starc to continue. Five off his over including a wide. IND 141/1 after 24 Overs.
Starc is back into the attack as Australia's search for a second wicket continues. Dhawan brings up his fifty with a quick single. ICYMI: Kohli and Dhawan have brought up 3000 runs between them in ODIs. Starc goes short and wide, Dhawan slashes and slashes hard and the southpaw collects his seventh four. IND 131/1 after 22 Overs.
Ashton Agar, Left arm orthodox, comes into the attack. Dhawan straightaway takes him on: leans across and drives through extra cover for four. He is nearing his fifty. Nine from Agar's first over. Zampa's through his five overs... his fifth going for just four. IND 120/1 after 20 Overs.
Cummins into his seventh over and we aren't even halfway through India's innings! Clearly, Aussies searching for another breakthrough here. Six off the over including four byes. Meanwhile, both batsmen are looking to be positive against Zampa: virat collects yet another four. IND 107/1 after 18 Overs.
WOW. Kohli's first scoring shot is a glorious cover drive for four off Cummins. Five off that over. Zampa to continue. He has got Virat out four times. Can he get him one more time? Six runs from his third over as India nears the 100-run mark. IND 93/1 after 16 Overs.
Rohit has taken a liking to Richardson: a cross-court fore-hand smash for four. Imperious. Eight runs off his fourth over. He is changing gears, is Rohit. But Zampa fights back. A boundary followed by an appeal for lbw. Rohit's given out but he reviews. Replays flash three reds and Australia have their first wicket. Rohit (42, 44b) was plumb in front. So, Kohli has gone back to No. 3. IND 82/1 after 14 Overs.
With no movement on offer in Rajkot, the Australia seamers have been punished for bowling full. The odd short ball has made an appearance... Richardson bowling short to Rohit, who brings out an imperious pull over midwicket, for two. Richardson wasn't a second time lucky; Dhawan pulling a short ball past deep square leg for four. First sign of spin: Adam Zampa, right-arm leg break, comes into the attack. Four off it. IND 68/0 after 12 Overs.
Rohit's in ominous form: bisects the gap between point and cover-point with a punch for four. Richardson at the receiving end. Dhawan, at the other end, has been hit flush in the ribs by a Cummins short ball. He is getting some medical attention now. Good over from Cummins. Just three off it. IND 55/0 after 10 Overs.
This is still a very good wicket to bat on. Might get slower as the game progresses. Remember, both sides wanted to bowl first... batting first hasn't turned out to be that bad for Kohli and Co after all... Meanwhile Kane Richardson is one change. He sprays a length delivery on middle and leg and Rohit just tucks it away for four. Cummins, in the meantime, had a change of end was taken for a boundary by Dhawan. IND 45/0 after 8 Overs.
Rohit's serene cover drive was the highlight of the last two overs. Starc steamed in from round the stump and delivered a full length delivery outside off: Rohit lunged forward, opened the bat face and drove it gorgeously past mid-off.. This is an absolute belter of a wicket. Nine came off Starc's third. IND 32/0 after 6 Overs.
Dhawan and Rohit got a boundary each off Cummins' last over, which went for nine. Meanwhile, Starc conceded a boundary too, Dhawan dispatching a leg-stump half-volley handsomely for four. Six from that over. IND 20/0 after 4 Overs.
Mitchell Starc to share the new ball. Dhawan welcomes him into the attack with a well timed straight drive for four. Good comeback from Starc. Four dots followed by a single. IND 5/0 after 2 Overs.
Rohit and Dhawan are at the crease. Rohit is on strike. Pat Cummins will take the new ball. He starts off with a maiden. Impressive speeds : all in excess of 140. IND 0/0 after 1 Over.
TOSS UPDATE: Australia has won the toss and decided to bowl.
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey(w), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
India (Playing XI) : Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul(w), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
- CAPTAINS SPEAK -
Kohli: We would've bowled first as well. But the good thing is there's not much dew. It looks really nice and hard. If we put enough runs on the board, we have a good chance of defending. You will be beaten comprehensively by sides like Australia at the International level. It's about understanding what went wrong. We need to focus on the positives.
Finch: We are going to bowl first. It looks like a beautiful wicket, I don't think it's going to change. We had success chasing in the last game, hopefully we can do that today as well. They (the spinners) controlled their length really well. Same team for us.
JUST IN: KS Bharat has joined the Indian team as a back-up wicketkeeper. With Sanju Samson & Ishan Kishan being a part of the India A side in New Zealand, the selection committee decided to name K S Bharat as back-up wicket-keeper.
The call was taken after Rishabh Pant flew to Bengaluru to undergo his rehabilitation protocol in the National Cricket Academy. The wicket-keeper batsman was hit on the helmet while batting in the 1st ODI in Mumbai and was ruled out of the 2nd ODI in Rajkot.
His recovery is being monitored by the NCA and a call on his availability for the final ODI in Bengaluru will be taken accordingly.
- THE MATCH PREVIEW -
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — the idiom fits perfectly while describing India captain Virat Kohli’s decision to switch his batting position from No. 3 to No. 4. To accommodate the three specialist openers in the team, Kohli demoted himself.
And the move backfired in the series opener in Mumbai on Tuesday. Kohli did not fire and India ended up with a below-par total on board.
With Aaron Finch and David Warner helping Australia cruise to a 10-wicket win, India — for the second time in as many months — finds itself in a position to bounce back after trailing in a three-match ODI series. If Kohli’s cavaliers have to show the resilience they showed against West Indies last month, it’s time the captain regains his customary No. 3 position.
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Kohli — who has scored 36 of his 43 ODI hundreds at No. 3 — admitted that India had to “rethink” about the batting order. “We’ve had this discussion many times in the past; because of the way K.L. (Rahul) has been batting, we have tried to fit him in the batting line-up,” Kohli had said at the post-match presentation at the Wankhede Stadium. “Having said that, I don’t think it’s quite gone our way whenever I’ve batted No. 4 so we’ll probably have to rethink about that one.”
Come Friday and India’s quandary over the batting line-up will still continue, considering Rishabh Pant’s unavailability for the game. The wicketkeeper has been ruled out of the must-win game after being hit on the helmet. As a result, Rahul — who donned the gloves during Australia’s chase — is set to continue as the wicketkeeper. It will be interesting to see if Kohli and Rahul swap batting positions. Pant’s injury also means that it will be a toss-up between Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav for the No. 6 slot.
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Australia will enter the game high on confidence. Centurions Warner and Finch will hope for another cracking start on a belter at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium at Khanderi.
That the opening duo was never separated at Wankhede meant Marnus Labuschagne was deprived of having a hit in his much-anticipated ODI debut. The in-form batsman will be looking forward to prove his mettle in the shorter version on Friday.
It remains to be seen if Australia bring on Josh Hazlewood in place of Kane Richardson as the third seamer but considering Williamson fared pretty well at Wankhede, the management is not likely to tinker with the combination.
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