After an impressive campaign with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (SRH), pacer T Natarajan made his debut for the Indian national cricket team.
Making his debut in the third and final ODI against Australia in Canberra, Natarajan once again impressed as the pacer picked two wickets as Men in Blue defended an average target of 303.
Natarajan dismissed batsman Marnus Labuschagne to pick his maiden wicket in Indian colors, followed by Ashton Agar. Natarajan bowled 10 overs in which he gave away 70 runs and picked two wickets. he also bowled a maiden over.
In the match, batting first did bring a change in fortune for Virat Kohli and boys as India defeated Australia by 13 runs in the final ODI of the three-match series at the Manuka Oval.
While India opened their account in the ODI Super League with the win, Australia took the series 2-1. Luck was India's side to begin with as Kohli won the toss for the first time in the series and decided to bat. While the top-order failed to fire in unison, the middle-order rose to the challenge and both Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja played match-winning knocks of 92 and 66 respectively to guide India to 302/5.
The addition of Shardul Thakur, Natarajan, and Kuldeep Yadav also rejuvenated the bowling as the side was finally able to take wickets at regular intervals. For the first time in the last six ODIs, the Men in Blue also managed to take a wicket in the powerplay overs. Aaron Finch played a knock of 75 runs, while Glenn Maxwell and Aston Agar tried their best to take Australia over the line. But in the end, Kohli and boys managed to hang on to register a 13-run win.
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