India Vs Australia 2023

At 152/6, the fear of India being bowled out quickly and being made to follow-on loomed large. But Ajinkya Rahane, who looked solid on day two and Shardul Thakur shared a superb 109-run partnership off 145 balls for the seventh wicket to lead a superb fightback for India and avoid the ignominy of follow-on.

At 152/6 in the first over of the day, the fear of India being bowled out quickly and being made to follow-on loomed large. But Ajinkya Rahane, who looked solid on day two and a fighting Shardul Thakur shared a superb 109-run partnership off 145 balls for the seventh wicket to lead a superb fightback for India and avoid the ignominy of follow-on.

When he got out for 121 after chopping on to his stumps off Shardul Thakur, Smith enhanced his excellent record at The Oval, now managing to score three Test tons at the venue. Only the great Sachin Tendulkar (11) has scored more Test hundreds in matches between India and Australia.

With 474 wickets in 92 matches at a strike-rate of 51.8, including 32 five-wicket/innings hauls, keeping Ashwin, the top-ranked Test bowler, out of the marquee clash as India preferred four fast-bowlers has invited criticism from former cricketers of both nations. The Oval pitch, which looked green, assisted the seamers for the first hour or so under overcast conditions.

"Both (Kohli and Smith are) batting at number four, so the key is to try and get them as early as possible, early wickets to expose them to the brand new ball will be absolutely key. I will always side with Steve Smith, I think his record is outstanding, but it will be a very good contest," Finch was quoted as saying by Star Sports.

Bumrah has been out of competitive cricket since late September last year, when he pulled out of the home T20Is against South Africa and subsequently missed the Men's T20 World Cup in Australia. After making a recovery, the pacer attempted a comeback in January this year for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. But, he was withdrawn on the eve of the ODI series opener at Guwahati, with the BCCI citing the need for him to build bowling resilience, and calling the decision as a precautionary measure.

Chasing 270, Axar was promoted to number five while Suryakumar was kept at number seven. The move didn't work as Axar was run out by a brilliant throw from Steve Smith while Suryakumar was clean bowled by Agar for a golden duck for the third time in the series. "Why did they promote Axar? If they promoted Axar and he negated Zampa and Agar by taking them for 35 or 50 runs in 10 overs then the game was in India's bag.

In chasing 270 on a pitch which wasn't easy for strokeplay, India had a 65-run opening partnership, but Virat Kohli and KL Rahul had put on 69 runs for the fourth wicket. But after the duo followed by Suryakumar Yadav fell in quick succession, India were put under pressure and were bundled out for 248 in 49.1 overs.

After posting 269 in 49 overs on a slow pitch where strokeplay wasn't easy, Zampa and Agar helped Australia fight back in the middle overs to break the back of India's batting. Even though Mitchell Starc went wicketless, the rest of bowlers along with fiery fielding show and spot-on fielding placements led to India being bundled out for 248 in 49.1 overs.

On Wednesday, in the ODI series decider between India and Australia at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Kuldeep bowled a delivery which was totally unplayable to rattle the stumps of Alex Carey. Carey looked to defend from the crease against a leg-break from Kuldeep in the 39th over which was pitched around leg-stump.