Australia vs India: 5 interesting ODI series that the two powerhouses played in the past

4. India beat Australia 2-1 in 3-match series in India in 2019-20

It is not often that Australia make overseas tours early in the year because of their home commitments but the year 2020 saw an exception. Aaron Finch led the Kangaroos for a brief tour of India featuring three ODIs. The first match was played in Mumbai on January 14 and the visitors knocked out the hosts by 10 wickets to go 1-0 up. Finch won the toss and sent Virat Kohli’s team to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with 74 off 91 while KL Rahul made 47 off 61.

India were bowled out for 255 before 50 overs with Mitchel Starc taking three for 56 and Pat Cummins and Kane Richardson chipping in with two wickets apiece. Australia then made a mockery of the Indian bowling with openers David Warner (128 not out off 112) and captain Finch (110 not out off 114) winning it for their side (Australia’s biggest win against India in terms of wickets) with more than 13 overs to spare. Warner was picked as the man of the match.

In the second game played three days later in Rajkot, Finch won the toss once again and did the same — sent India in to bat. The Indian batsmen fired in unison in this game with Dhawan blasting 96 off 90, Rahul 80 off 52, Kohli 78 off 76 and Rohit Sharma 42 off 44 to take their side’s total to 340 for 6 in 50 overs. Spinner Adam Zampa was most successful Australian bowler with three for 52 and Richardson took two for 73.

The Australian response fell short of the expectations with only Steven Smith (98 off 102) and Marnus Labuschagne (46 off 47) putting up some hope. The duo added 96 runs for the third wicket to keep Australia in the hunt but once Labuschagne fell in the 31st over, it was only a case of catching up for the Kangaroos. The hosts went down fighting to get folded for 304 in the final over to lose by 46 runs.

Mohammed Shami took three for 77 while Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav (completed 100 wickets in this game) took two wickets each. It now came down to the decider. The third match was played in Bangalore on January 19 and it was a clash of two titans — Smith and Sharma. Finch won the toss and elected to bat first. Powered by Smith’s 131 off 119 and Labuschagne’s 54, Australia posted 286 for 9 in 50 overs.

Shami claimed four for 63 and Jadeja took two for 44. After the break, it was all Sharma (119 off 128) and Kohli (89 off 91) who added 137 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation on which Shreyas Iyer (44 not out off 35) delivered the final punches. The hosts overhauled the target losing just three wickets in 47.3 overs to clinch their second successive bilateral ODI series coming from behind. Sharma was adjudged the man of the match while Kohli was picked as the man of the series.