After winning the first 3 ODIs, India suffered a defeat in the last game in Bengaluru but the men in blue made a daunting comeback in the final game to clinch the series 4-1 at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur. With the win, India regained the No.1 ranking in ODI cricket.
It was a relaid surface in Nagpur that had a lot of mystery. Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers David Warner and Aaron Finch provided yet another solid start as they handled the pacers beautifully. The duo added 66 runs for the 1st wicket before Finch was sent back for 32 by Hardik Pandya.
Warner went to score a half-century and looked set for a big score. But Indian spinners put the brakes on the scoring that put the pressure on Australia as they suffered another collapse when Smith, Warner and Peter Handscomb departed in quick succession.
Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis added 87 for the 5th wicket and took the side to a platform from where a competitive target was well within reach. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah pulled things back as the visitors could score just 52 runs and lost 5 wickets in the last 10 overs.
In reply, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane took away any hopes of an Australian comeback with a classy partnership of 124. It was a sheer treat to watch 2 elegant right-handers matching each other shot for shot. Rahane scored 61 before getting out to Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Rohit carried on to make 125 from 109 that turned out to be his 14th ODI century. Kohli too played a helping hand of 39 but both got out when India were on the verge of victory. Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav gathered the required runs to finish what proved to be a one-sided win.
Here is how Twitter reacted to India’s emphatic win
India made a sluggish pitch look easy with an excellent run chase. It is not always that the Aussies are dominated but they were here
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 1, 2017
India go back to the top of the ICC rankings. Their intensity was admirable and they were relentless.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 1, 2017
Congrats Team India on a fantastic series win.Really happy to see a lot of players contributing in this win.Keep it up!! @BCCI #IndvAus
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 1, 2017
Hugely enjoyable watching Rohit Sharma bat today. In terms of runs/innings & strike rate, not too different from Kohli in the last 2 years
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 1, 2017
Congrats @BCCI @imVkohli for an emphatic victory. That was as daunting a result as it gets #INDvAUS #AUSvIND
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) October 1, 2017
These Aussies are so terrible. We could have played Sri Lanka again. #INDvAUS
— Pritam Sharma (@VanDiablo) October 1, 2017
Was a pleasure to meet young Kuldeep when I was last in India. I really enjoy watching him bowl & cause confusion, even against Oz #INDvAUS
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) October 1, 2017
Brilliant performance @BCCI !!!
You gave us a good old fashioned kick in the bum! #toogood #4-1— Dean Jones AM (@ProfDeano) October 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/robbieuthappa/status/914508923226353664
https://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/914501959968735234
https://twitter.com/1sInto2s/status/914510452759052289
Pandya will be my Man of the Series. Two critical innings. Crucial wickets. Grown in stature. #IndvAus
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 1, 2017
Congrats team India 4 d series win vs Aussies.sign of great things 2come in d future n that is 2 rule world cricket for long @BCCI #INDvAUS
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/914509160259170304
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/914443763317186563
