Riding on fantastic knocks from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India thrashed Australia by 9 wickets in the third and final ODI of the three-match series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Having been put in to bowl first, India bowled out Australia for 236 in 46.4 overs. Leading the way with the ball was Harshit Rana, who notched a four-wicket haul, finishing with figures of 4/39. Despite all the top six batters getting starts, Matt Renshaw’s 56 off 58 was the highest score by an Australian batter, which summed up their innings.
Chasing a modest total, opener Rohit Sharma struck an impressive unbeaten century (121 not out off 125 while Virat Kohli made a fighting fifty (74 not out off 81 balls). Rohit shared a key 69-run partnership with Shubman Gill (24) for the opening wicket before joining hands with Kohli for an unbeaten 168-run stand as India chased down the target in 38.3 overs.
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The win for India marked their first in the format against Australia at the venue since 2016.
Last Australia Tour For Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli?
Speaking after their heroics, the duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened up on years of touring Down Under, at the end of a likely final assignment in Australia.
“I have always loved coming here, and enjoyed playing cricket at this venue (in Sydney). Brought back nice memories of 2008 (his first tour of Australia), it was fun, don’t know if we’re going to come back (as cricketers), but I’ve enjoyed every bit,” Rohit told the broadcasters.
“Forget about what happened in the last 15 years, I’ve always loved playing here, I think it’ll be the same for Virat as well. Thank you Australia,” he added.
Rohit picked up off his impressive outing in Adelaide, and played an even chanceless knock, notching his 33rd ODI hundred. The former India captain is third in the tally for most hundreds in the format behind Virat Kohli (51) and Sachin Tendulkar (49).
Meanwhile, Kohli, who had been dismissed for successive ducks in the first two ODIs, got back among the runs with a valuable half-century.
“Good to be out of the pond, honestly. I am kind of lost. You might’ve played international cricket for a long time, but the game shows you ways,” said Kohli.
“Almost 37 (years old) in the next few days, but chasing always brings the best out of me, nice to have a big match-winning partnership (with Rohit),” he added.
Opening up on his experience of batting alongside Rohit in the format, Kohli said that they understand the situation well.
“I think from early on, we’ve understood the situation well, that’s what we’ve always done well (as a pair), we’re probably the most experienced pair now, but back in the day when we were young – we knew we could take the game away from them with big partnerships,” said Virat.
“I think it all started in 2013 (the home series against Australia), if we put up a big partnership, play around 20 overs, we know we’ll go a long way in helping the team win and even the opposition realise it. We’ve loved coming to this country, we’ve played some good cricket,” he concluded.
The two teams – India and Australia – will next lock horns in a five-match T20I series, starting October 29.
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