Sports Desk
Canberra: Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Thangarasu Natarajan helped India to defend their score of 302, leading them to a consolation win over Australia by 13 runs in the final ODI of the three-match series.
India managed to avoid a whitewash as Australia were without their three main players David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
Earlier, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja blazed half-centuries for India to reach 302 for five while skipper Virat Kohli made 63 off 78.
During his stay, Kohli broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar, becoming the fastest batter to reach the 12,000 run landmark in this format.
Pandya finished as top-scorer with 92 off 76 balls with some late fireworks with Ravindra Jadeja 66 (50) in a strong 150-run stand. They both added 76 runs in the last five overs.
Opener Shubman Gill made a valuable contribution at the top, scoring 33 off 39 while vice-captain KL Rahul only managed to score 5.
Ashton Agar was pick of the bowlers, picking 2/44 while Adam Zampa, Sean Abbott and Josh Hazlewood took one each.
Aaron Finch was joined by Marnus Labuschagne at the top but he didn’t trouble the opposition much. He was castled by Natarajan in the sixth over, his first wicket in international cricket.
Later, Shardul Thakur got the better of Steve Smith. He departed on a score of 7. Finch and Moises Henriques then added a much-needed 61-run stand but they went back to the pavilion in quick succession.
Henriques (22) was dismissed by Thakur while Jadeja removed Finch (75). The hosts were back on track after Glenn Maxwell took on the Indians, but he was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah for 59 off 38 balls with four sixes.
Aussies managed just 25 runs off their last 33 balls and lost four wickets, leading India to a consolation win.
Pandya was awarded player of the match for his unbeaten 92 while Smith bagged player of the series award as he scored 216 runs which included two 62-ball centuries.
Both sides will now lock horns in the three-match T20I series at the same venue, starting from December 4.
