RANCHI: Virat Kohli looked like a ‘Man on a Mission’ wearing the camouflage army cap for the better part of his 41st ODI hundred but that wasn’t enough to prevent India from losing the third ODI against Australia by 32 runs here Friday.
Usman Khawaja’s hundred and Aaron Finch’s 93 saw Australia put up a more than decent 313 for five and India could manage only 281 in 48.2 overs, that too solely due to Kohli’s 123 off 95 balls.
It was yet another superlative effort from the Indian skipper, who lacked adequate support from the other end as Australia kept the five-match series consequential going into the fourth game in Chandigarh on Sunday.
Kohli scored his first 50 off 52 balls and the next 50 off just 33 balls which was sheer class as always. The acceleration was so sudden that it even took the Australian attack by surprise.
The skipper launched a brutal assault on the Australian bowlers. From gorgeous looking cover drives to delectable on-drives and those deft touches everything was present in a bouquet.
The true nature of the pitch helped him hit through the line as he smashed 16 fours and a six.
However Adam Zampa (3/70), by far the most impactful Aussie bowler, bowled the Indian skipper after having accounted for former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (26). He did get hit but he would any day take wickets of Kohli, Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav (26) in return.
Kohli had three significant partnerships — 59 with Dhoni for the fourth wicket, 88 with Jadhav for the fifth wicket and 45 with Vijay Shankar for the sixth — but none good enough to take India across the line.
Shikhar Dhawan (1), Rohit Sharma (14) and Ambati Rayudu (2) were dismissed cheaply as India was left tottering at 27 for three and it was always a difficult task from there on.
After winning the toss, Indian pacers covered up commendably for a rare off-day endured by the spinners as visitors were restricted to 313 for five despite a 193-run opening stand between skipper Finch and Khawaja.
Khawaja (104, 113 balls) scored his maiden ODI ton while Finch (93, 99 balls) chose this particular match to get back to form. Maxwell (47 off 31 balls) also contributed with lusty blows.
The Indian spinners — Ravindra Jadeja (0/64 in 10 overs) and Kedar Jadhav (0/32 in 2 overs) — were carted all around the park.
Kuldeep Yadav (3/64 in 10 overs), however, redeemed himself at the back-end of the innings.
The trio gave away 160 runs in 22 overs and it was left to Jasprit Bumrah (0/53) and Mohammed Shami (1/52 in 10 overs) to maintain the discipline during the final overs as the total could have gone close to the 350-run mark.
SCOREBOARD: AUSTRALIA: A Finch lbw Kuldeep 93, U Khawaja c Bumrah b Shami 104, G Maxwell run out Jadeja 47, S Marsh c Shankar b Kuldeep 7, M Stoinis not out 31, P Handscomb lbw Kuldeep 0, A Carey not out 21. EXTRAS: 10 (0b 4lb 0nb 0pen 6w); TOTAL: 313-5 (in 50 overs). FALL OF WICKETS: 1-193, 2-239, 3-258, 4-263, 5-263. BOWLING: M Shami 10-0-52-1, J Bumrah 10- 0-53-0, R Jadeja 10-0-64-0, Kuldeep 10-0-64-3, V Shankar 8-0-44-0, K Jadhav 2-0-32-0.
INDIA: S Dhawan c Maxwell b Richardson 1, R Sharma lbw Cummins 14, V Kohli b Zampa 123, A Rayudu b Cummins 2, MS Dhoni b Zampa 26, K Jadhav lbw Zampa 26, V Shankar c Richardson b Lyon 32, R Jadeja c Maxwell b Jhye Richardson 24, Kuldeep c Finch b Cummins 10, M Shami c Cummins b Richardson 8, J Bumrah not out 0. EXTRAS: 15 (1b 10lb 0nb 0pen 4w); TOTAL: 281 all out (in 48.2 overs). FALL OF WICKETS: 1-11, 2-15, 3-27, 4-86, 5-174, 6-219, 7-251, 8-273, 9-281, 10-281. BOWLING: P Cummins 8.2-1-37-3, J Richardson 9-2-37-3, M Stoinis 6-0-39-0, N Lyon 10-0-57-1, A Zampa 10-0-70-3, G Maxwell 5-0-30-0.