Sydney, Oct 25 (IANS) Seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana led a disciplined bowling effort to pick 4-39 as India bowled out Australia for 236 in 46.4 overs in the third ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

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. What will bring immense happiness to the Indian camp is Rana, who, under pressure when coming into the game, delivered in the latter stages to slice through the middle and lower order for a memorable four-fer.

Apart from him, every Indian bowler contributed a wicket to complete a collective effort, as Australia lost their last six wickets for just 53 runs. India were also significantly aided by Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar applying pressure and striking at regular intervals in overs 11-40 to hinder Australia’s momentum.

Electing to bat first, the opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head adopted a cautious approach, before the latter broke the shackles with a flick through the on-side off the final delivery of the third over by Mohammed Siraj.

While there was some early movement on offer for pacers with the new ball, the SCG surface appeared largely free of any major threats. After Siraj and Rana were hit for boundaries, Prasidh Krishna’s return to ODIs after two years was met with Marsh hitting a towering six on the first ball of his spell, before being pulled again by the batter for another boundary.

Head continued to find gaps and reached the 3,000-run milestone in ODIs with a single, as Australia raced to 44/0 by the end of the seventh over. India finally broke through in the 10th over when Head, attempting a cut, found Krishna at point off Siraj to depart for 31, as Australia ended the powerplay at 63/1.

A moment of chaos almost cost Australia another wicket as miscommunication between March and Matt Short nearly led to a dramatic run-out. After a misfield at short cover, Short called for a single, prompting Marsh to respond, only for Short to hesitate mid-pitch. As confusion took hold, Shubman Gill threw down a direct hit from close range, but missed the stumps by a whisker, allowing Short to survive the scare.

Short’s jittery start persisted when he tried a wild slog across the line off Kuldeep, who was sure there was a faint edge before KL Rahul caught the ball. But UltraEdge showed no contact between bat and ball, so the on-field decision was upheld and India lost their review.

After hitting Kuldeep for two boundaries, Marsh was bowled for 41 when he missed a straight delivery from Axar, which rattled his off-stump. Seven overs later, Short attempted a sweep off Sundar but was left seeing Virat Kohli taking a sharp catch at square leg to dismiss him for 30.

Alex Carey survived a tough chance on eight when Krishna failed to hold on to a low catch at long-on off Kuldeep. Carey, who struggled against India’s spin troika, was eventually dismissed when Shreyas Iyer turned around and ran back from backward point to complete a superb tumbling catch.

Iyer, however, injured his left side while taking the catch and walked off in obvious discomfort with medical assistance. Amidst all this, Renshaw looked fluent and ran hard to bring up his first ODI fifty with minimal risk and maintaining a healthy strike rate.

His composed approach contrasted with that of other Australian batters, but India’s spinners continued to dominate when he missed a flick after dancing down the pitch and was trapped lbw by Sundar, as Australia lost their second review.

Australia’s innings continued to unravel as Mitch Owen edged to first slip off Rana, while Kuldeep castled Mitchell Starc with a quicker delivery. Nathan Ellis hit three quick boundaries before hitting straight to mid-wicket off Prasidh. Rana wrapped up the innings by taking the last two wickets in three balls – having Cooper Connolly holing out to long off and Josh Hazlewood being bowled – ending with a fine four-for.

Brief Scores: Australia 236 in 43.4 overs (Matthew Renshaw 56, Mitchell Marsh 41; Harshit Rana 4-39, Washington Sundar 2-44) against India

— IANS

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