David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne smashed fifties as Australia scored 352/7 in 50 overs against India in the final ODI of the three-game series at the SCA stadium in Rajkot on Wednesday.
Electing to bat first on a flat pitch and scorching heat requiring for the drinks to be carried on the field, the top-four batters making fifties would have pleased the Australians ahead of the next month’s World Cup.
Warner made a quick 34-ball 56, his third consecutive fifty of this series. It was followed by Marsh top-scoring with 96 off 84 balls and Smith making 74 off 61 balls. Though India fought back at the end after being taken for plenty of runs, Labuschagne batted through others collapsing around him to make 72 off 58 balls.
His efforts took Australia to a mammoth score which is also the highest 50-over total at this venue, though they would rue out on a chance to get a score above 400, which was a possibility at one point. It will be interesting to see how India chase down 353, especially with no Shubman Gill in the match.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets though he was expensive, while Kuldeep Yadav struck back with two crucial scalps to stop the Australian acceleration. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took a wicket each while Washington Sundar gave away only 47 runs in his 10 overs.
Batting first, Marsh got going with four boundaries in first three overs, all of which came against Bumrah. Warner joined the boundary-hitting party by smashing Siraj for a four and two sixes in the fourth over. He then took Krishna or 19 runs in the seventh over – three fours and a six, with Australia reaching its fifty in just 6.1 overs.
Warner reached his fifty by pulling Siraj over long leg for six, before he was foxed by a slower delivery from Prasidh while trying to scoop off him and was caught behind. As Marsh continued to be on the attacking mode and got his fifty in 45 balls, Smith was serene in his placement of drives and flicks.
Though the spinners came over, it made no difference as Marsh and Smith continued to get boundaries at a regular rate. Bumrah’s reintroduction couldn’t change things as Marsh pulled him for six and smashed a hat-trick of fours to take 19 runs off the 23rd over.
Smith got his fifty off 43 balls by driving Bumrah down the ground for a boundary, before an exhausted Marsh fell four runs short of his century by slicing a Kuldeep googly to cover-point. At 242/2 in the 32nd over, Australia looked in pole position to get to 400 till India fought back.
Smith was trapped lbw off Siraj, when his skiddy delivery went past attempted flick and impact of delivery was in line with off-stump. Bumrah returned to fox Alex Carey with a slower ball off-cutter and holed out to cover, before uprooting Glenn Maxwell’s off-stump with a searing yorker.
Kuldeep had another when Cameron Green holed out to long-on to continue India’s fightback. But Labuschagne stood tall to get his fifty by thumping Kuldeep down the ground for a boundary and took three more boundaries against the pacers before holing out to long-on off Bumrah, as Australia managed to cross 350.
Brief Scores: Australia 352/7 in 50 overs (Mitchell Marsh 96, Steven Smith 74; Jasprit Bumrah 3-81, Kuldeep Yadav 2-48) against India
