Aussies Burst India's Invincibility, Script Memorable Series Win

Another Khawaja show sets up the platform for a challenging target on a slow and low pitch; puzzling selections make it worse for the home team.

- Rakesh Rao

The aura of invincibility India built in recent years, especially at home, in the limited-over format has vanished.

In what was the team’s last ODI before the World Cup, the collective performance of a puzzling combination left more questions unanswered than it started out to address.

In addition to the persisting middle-order woes and lack of a reliable fifth bowling option, some batsmen’s lack of technique against quality spin bowling stood exposed before Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon.

Moreover, the over-reliance on the top-order hurt the team once again.

As India’s worries grew, the 35-run win, in the fifth and final ODI at the Ferozeshah Kotla here, gave Australia a well-deserved 3-2 series triumph, its first in India since 2009.

India’s third successive defeat also blew the lid off the much-underlined ‘problem of plenty’ in selection and exposed plenty of problems.

Lone bright spot

For the record, riding on the in-form Usman Khawaja’s 100, Australia set a target of 273. In response, India folded at 237, the only bright spot being the fighting 91-run seventh-wicket stand between Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

All through, Australia stayed ahead of India despite a brief spell when the side tumbled from 175 for one to 229 for six. Indeed, this kept Australia from scoring a 300plus total for the third time in succession but the way India responded, it did not matter.