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IND vs AUS: India loses first bilateral series at home in four years

By Rohit - March 23, 2023 - Last updated on Mar 23, 2023 10:59 AM
IND vs AUS: India loses first bilateral series at home in four years

In the World Cup year, India's first home ODI series loss since March 2019 was a rude awakening. Despite Rohit Sharma's team's valiant efforts, they were defeated 2-1 by Australia in a three-match series. In the series decider on March 22 in Chennai, India failed to chase down a target of 270, resulting in their defeat.

After losing to Bangladesh in December 2022, India demonstrated resilience by clean-sweeping Sri Lanka and New Zealand in three-match series at home, displaying their determination and skill.

Australia also showed resilience by winning the ODI series against India after losing the series opener in Mumbai. Australia had previously beaten India in March 2019, coming back from a 0-2 deficit to win the 5-match series 3-2, led by Aaron Finch.

Despite Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya's valiant efforts, India fell short of the target by 21 runs in the match. Adam Zampa took 4 wickets in his 10-over spell on the spin-friendly MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch, with Ashton Agar contributing to the 6-wicket haul and conceding only 86 runs. India was eventually bowled out for 248 in 49.1 overs.

India's chase of 270 started strongly with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill adding 65 runs for the first wicket. However, Sharma fell to Sean Abbott after a quickfire 30, including two fours and two sixes. Virat Kohli joined Gill at the crease but another setback occurred when Gill was dismissed by Adam Zampa for 37. KL Rahul replaced Gill at No. 4 and, after a slow start, accelerated his scoring. Kohli and Rahul added 69 runs for the third wicket before Zampa dismissed Rahul for 32.

Axar Patel, who was sent to bat before Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, had a brief innings before being run out for a meager 2 runs due to an outstanding piece of fielding by Steve Smith.

In the meantime, Virat Kohli scored his 65th half-century, but his impressive knock ended abruptly when Ashton Agar delivered a tricky ball that led to an error from the Indian star. Suryakumar Yadav was left in disbelief when Agar nearly achieved a hat-trick, but Ravindra Jadeja prevented it from happening. Nevertheless, Yadav ended up setting an unwanted record as the first batter to be dismissed for a duck in every game of an ODI series.

As India faced a challenging chase, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja came together again to try and rescue their team. However, Steve Smith captained his side brilliantly, and Adam Zampa responded by dismissing both all-rounders, effectively sealing India's fate.

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