Indore, Sept 24:
All-rounder Hardik Pandya rose to the occasion yet again with a fluent 78-run knock as India registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Australia in the third ODI to grab the number one spot, here today.
Chasing 294 for a win, India overhauled the target with 13 balls to spare in front of a packed Holkar stadium to take a series-clinching 3-0 lead.
Openers Rohit Sharma (71) and Ajikya Rahane (70) set the platform for the win with their 131-run partnership while Pandya steered the side to victory with his crucial knock, which came off 72 balls.
Australia opener Aaron Finch’s fluent century came to a nought due to self-destructive batting by Australia in the last 10 overs.
Finch, playing his first game of the series, had placed Australia at a commanding 232 for two in 40 overs with his 124-run innings but they lost plot after that.
When they could have gone for a kill and a score in the vicinity of 350, all Australia could manage was just 59 runs and lost four wickets to settle for 293 for six.
India faced a few anxious moments in their run chase after losing the set openers along with captain Virat Kohli (28) and Kedar Jadhav (2) but Pandya, who had played crucial role in India’s win in the series-opener in Chennai, ensured there were no more hiccups.(PTI)
SCOREBOARD
Australia Innings:
David Warner b Pandya 42
Aaaron Finch c Jadhav b Kuldeep Yadav 124
Steve Smith c Bumrah b Kuldeep Yadav 63
Glenn Maxwell st Dhoni b Chahal 5
Travis Head b Bumrah 4
Marcus Stoinis not out 27
Peter Handscomb c Pandey b Bumrah 3
Aashton Agar not out 9
Extras: (LB-2, W-14) 16
Total: (for six wickets in 50 Overs) 293
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 10-0-52-0, Jasprit Bumrah 10-0-52-2, Yuzvendra Chahal 10-0-54-1, Hardik Pandya 10-0-58-1, Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-75-2
India Innings:
Ajinkya Rahane lbw b Cummins 70
Rohit Sharma c sub (Cartwright) b Coulter-Nile 71
Virat Kohli c Finch b Agar 28
Hardik Pandya c Richardson b Cummins 78
Kedar Jadhav c Handscomb b Richardson 2
Manish Pandey not out 36
Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 3
Extras: (LB-3, W-3) 6
Total: (for five wickets in 47.5) 294
Bowling Pat Cummins 10-0-54-2, Nathan Coulter-Nile 10-0- 58-1, Kane Richardson 8.5-0-45-1, Marcus Stoinis 8-0 -61-0, Ashton Agar 10-0-71-1, Glenn Maxwell 1-0-2-0
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