After a dramatic victory in Chennai while defending 269, visitors Australia seized the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings and ended India’s four-year streak of consecutive home victories. Australia risked being stifled by the dew in the second half of the game by electing to put runs on the board on a dry Chennai track, and went all guns blazing after winning the toss. They targeted the new ball during the powerplay but continued to push for quick runs, leading to several players getting off to decent starts but none that would amount to a significant milestone. 

The Aussie defence was a fantastic display of grit from the visiting bowlers, as they made an impressive comeback to pull India back down after extended periods of momentum. Spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar were on song, picking up six wickets between them to drag the Indians down during times when they looked to take the game away. Cameron Green’s illness brought Marcus Stoinis into the squad, who did extremely well for himself, contributing with both bat and ball, with 1/43 and 25 with the bat. You can enhance your experience of watching India play with the best betting odds from NextBet.

David Warner made a return to the side after missing out of the first couple of games with an injury. However, the Aussies decided to stick with the opening combination of Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, forcing Warner to drop down to No.4. 

The openers did well, putting on a rapid 68 for the first wicket, before skipper Steve Smith was dismissed off just his third ball, as Hardik Pandya’s rampage yielded the hosts three quick wickets. Marsh’s 47 was the top score for the five-time world champions, who managed a total of 269. 

It was a similar case in response for the Indians, as both their openers were dismissed after getting starts. Virat Kohli scored a classy half-century, as the maestro looked in solid touch. Kohli and Rahul were going at good pace as India seemed destined for the victory, before Zampa struck to remove the Karnataka man. 

Kohli had to involve himself in a rebuild after Axar’s dismissal in a horrible mix-up, but lost his wicket for 54 with three recognised batsmen available and 85 runs to get. The chase would get progressively harder as the Indians failed to apply themselves on a tricky wicket. Suryakumar’s third golden duck in a row was the beginning of the Indian downfall, as the hosts lost the game by 21 runs. Follow Nextbet Sports to get all updates related to the Indian Cricket Team.

Brief Scores: Australia 269 all out (Marsh 47, Hardik 3-44, Kuldeep 3-56) beat India 248 (Kohli 54, Zampa 4-45) by 21 runs