Under the leadership of Shubman Gill, the Indian team achieved a spectacular victory by 9 wickets in the Sydney ODI against Australia. In this match held on October 25 (Saturday), Australia had given the Indian team a target of 237 runs to win, which it achieved with 69 balls remaining. The Indian team had already lost the three-match ODI series, so it ended the series honorably by winning the last match.
Also read: Rohit Sharma scored half century, left Kohli-Sachin behind in century against Australia
This was only the third win of the Indian team against Australia in One Day International at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). After 9 years, India has won the ODI match on this ground. Before this, India’s last ODI win at Sydney Cricket Ground came on 23 January 2016. After that, India lost three consecutive ODI matches against Australia on this ground, then got this victory. India also stopped the Australian team’s streak of 6 consecutive wins in One Day Internationals on this ground. These 5 things played an important role in India’s victory.
Harshit Rana Gamechanging bowling: The Australian team’s score at one time was 183 runs for four wickets in 33.3 overs. In such a situation, it seemed that the Kangaroo team could make a big score, but the Indian bowlers, led by fast bowler Harshit Rana, played brilliantly. Harshit gave only 39 runs in 8.4 overs of bowling and he took four wickets in his bag. The remaining bowlers (Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna and Akshar Patel) also took wickets.
Rohit Sharma Attacking cricket: Rohit Sharma’s confidence was at its peak after playing an inning of 73 runs in Adelaide ODI. In this match, Rohit was seen in an aggressive mood from the beginning. He had an opening partnership of 69 runs with Shubman Gill, in which the Indian captain scored only 24 runs. That means Rohit had greater contribution. Even after Gill’s dismissal, Rohit did not stop and made India’s victory easy by scoring the 33rd century of his ODI career. Rohit played an unbeaten inning of 121 runs facing 125 balls. During this period, 13 fours and three sixes came from his bat.
Also read: Indian team’s resounding victory in Sydney ODI, Rohit Sharma’s century, Virat Kohli also shined
King Kohli’s swag was also visible: Virat Kohli He was not able to open his account in the first two matches, so there was a lot of pressure on him. As soon as Kohli scored his first run, his reaction was worth seeing. After that run, it seemed as if all the pressure was removed from him. Then Kohli hit his favorite shots. There was an unbeaten partnership of 168 runs between Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Facing 81 balls, Kohli scored unbeaten 74 runs, which included seven fours.
Ground fielding was excellent: The fielding of the Indian team was overall excellent in this match. Shreyas Iyer took a brilliant catch of Alex Carey while running backwards. Virat Kohli also showed leopard-like agility and caught the catch of Matthew Short. Both these batsmen were stuck at the crease, hence the fall of their wickets created pressure on the Australian team. Rohit Sharma also took two catches in this match, due to which he completed his 100 catches in ODI.
Losing the toss was beneficial: Australia won the toss in this match and decided to bat first. This decision of Australia was also beneficial for the Indian team. Captain Shubman Gill also wanted to bowl first. In the first two matches, the Indian team had to bat first, where it was seen struggling in the initial overs. But India had to chase in Sydney, so by then the pitch had become suitable for batting. Indian batsmen did not give any chance to Australia in the chase.
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