Sydney, Oct 25 (PTI) Matt Renshaw displayed his newly acquired white ball proficiency with a fine fifty, but Harshit Rana-led India bowlers struck at regular intervals to keep Australia to an underwhelming 236 in the third and final ODI here on Saturday.
Batting by choice, the Aussies failed to construct regular partnerships against a tidy effort by the Indians with the ball and on the field, particularly in the middle overs when spinners choked the run flow.
Pacer Rana was impressive during his four-wicket haul (4/39), a spell in which he generated good pace and bounce off a fresh SCG turf.
The first wicket stand of 61 between skipper Mitchell Marsh (41) and Travis Head, and a 54-run association between Renshaw (56) and Alex Carey kept the hosts afloat, but were not enough to carry them to a bigger total.
Marsh and Head played some typically powerful shots around the wicket, and the former had even smoked Prasidh Krishna for a pulled six.
But Head guided a rather innocuous delivery from Mohammad Siraj straight into the hands of Prasidh at backward point.
That sharpness on the field soon became a feature of India’s fielding on the day. The catch Virat Kohli took at backward point to get rid of Matthew Short off Washington Sundar could be counted among the best reflex catches.
But Shreyas Iyer bettered that effort with a running catch to oust Carey. The wicketkeeper batter tried to loft Rana, but a leading edge took the ball to the opposite direction.
Shreyas hared off from point and covered a fair bit of distance to make a diving catch, though he suffered a minor hurt in the attempt.
Axar Patel worked his magic in between to dismiss Marsh, as a delivery that came in with the angle breached the West Australian’s defence to disturb the stumps.
But Renshaw batted with assurance at one end, showing that he has eventually come to terms with the demands of white ball format nearly a decade after making his Test debut.
His focus was on taking singles and twos to wriggle out of the squeeze that the Indian bowlers applied in the middle overs, and his first boundary came in the 35th ball.
The left-hander fetched his fifty in 48 balls despite hitting just one four, but he could not extend his stay.
Washington beat his little shimmy with a quicker one and pinged his pads to win a leg-before appeal.
Mitchell Owen and Mitchell Starc did not last long either as Australia slipped to 201 for seven. A couple of cameos down the order gave their a touch of respectability.
This report includes content sourced from Press Trust of India (PTI), edited for clarity and context.
