Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first in the series decider against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. David Warner and Ashton Agar are back in to the Australian side, while Cameron Green sits out.
“We are gonna have a bat. Looks like quite a dry surface, it is pretty hot out here. Will look to put a good total on this surface. We have had good fun and it will be exciting in the decider. We love playing in the crunch games and it’s exciting. It’s dry, so Ashton Agar is back. David Warner is back and Cameron Green is feeling unwell, so there are changes," Smith said.
India vs Australia Live Score 3rd ODI Updates
Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that he would have bowled first had he won the toss. “We were looking to field first. It’s an important game and the deciders are always interesting. It’s always good to put us in this situation. It’s a challenge for us to come back and play some good cricket under pressure. Hopefully we can put our best foot forward. Australia are a good team and you can always test your depth. We are playing with the same team. We were thinking of playing with four seamers but the conditions here are suitable for the spinners, so we go with three spinners," Rohit said.
India had taken the lead in the three-match ODI series against Australia with a facile win in Mumbai on Friday. Mohammed Shami (3/17 off 6 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (3/29 off 5.4 overs) led with the ball and kept the visitors to a modest-looking 188.
India’s chase was far from smooth, with left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc breathing fire. The hosts were reduced to 39/4 and then 83/5 in no time before KL Rahul (75 not out off 91 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (45 not out off 69 balls) steadied the ship and took their side home with just a little over 10 overs left. Starc finished with 3/49 off 9.5 overs.
In the second ODI of the series in Visakhapatnam, Starc was at his fiery best again and this time, for a winning cause. The hosts were bruised, battered and humiliated and in the face of Starc’s fifer (5/53 off 8 overs), were skittled out for 117 in just 26 overs.
If the Indians had hoped for their bowlers to do the unthinkable and make a match out of it, those hopes were soon dashed. Travis Head (51 off 30 balls) and Mitchel Marsh (66 off 36 balls) made a mockery of the Indian attack and raced home in just the 11th over.
With the series now level at one apiece, there is now everything to play for in Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. The series is being seen as a good workout for the two teams ahead of the ICC World Cup that is scheduled to be played in India during the months of October and November.
Teams:
India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
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