Australia Beat India In 3rd ODI Too, Clinch Series

17 January, Melbourne

Australia dominated with both bat and ball to defeat India by three wickets in the third One-Day International (ODI) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Sunday. Australia won with 7 balls remaining.

Pacer John Hastings returned figures of 4/58 as India posted 295/6 after being asked to bat first. Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Marsh then spearheaded the run chase as Australia claimed victory with seven balls to spare.

Maxwell was declared Man of The Match.

The hosts have now taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-ODI series. Australia had won the first two matches by five and seven wickets respectively.

The Indians have now lost three of their last four ODI series since the World Cup in Australia last year.

This is their third consecutive series loss. They had earlier conceded an away series in Bangladesh and went down to South Africa at home.

India failed to defend their score for the third time in succession after Perth’s 309 and 308 in Brisbane. Winning the toss, Australian captain Steven Smith sent India in to bat first.

Virat Kohli scored 117 runs to register his 24th century and became the quickest batsman to reach 7,000 runs. India scored 295 for 6 in the stipulated 50 overs.

Australia squared off with 296 for 7. For Australia, John Hastings took four wickets for 58 runs. For India, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each.