IND vs AUS: Play gets halted after dog makes its way on field

Rain interruptions on a cricket field are not a rare sight and are known to put even the most passionate spectators to sleep and douse their energy. But cricket matches often get interrupted due to a plethora of other reasons and some of them happen to be just as ridiculous as someone could possibly imagine.

A similar rib-tickling incident happened in the ongoing India versus Australia third ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. A dog rushed on to the field of play during the 43rd over Australia's innings and halted play for a while. Sean Abbott and Ashton Agar were facing Kuldeep Yadav. Abbott hit Kuldeep for a boundary on the third delivery of the over before the dog made its way into the middle to halt play.

YASIR SHEIKH🇮🇳@yasir__aadeez

New fielder in the fields 😂 #INDvsAUS

05:44 PM · Mar 22, 2023

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Security had to rush on the field to get the dog and make sure that it didn't dent India's over rate as it was already below the required mark. 

Australia won the toss and stand-in skipper Steven Smith had no hesitation in electing to bat first as the wicket looked fairly dry. The visitors made a few changes to their playing XI as David Warner and Ashton Agar came into the side. On the other hand, India decided to go in with the same XI that was mauled in Visakhapatnam.

Surprisingly, Australia didn't tinker with their opening combination and sent both Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh to open the proceedings for them. Indian bowlers were dented up front as the in-form duo got the Kangaroos off to a steady start. The opening pair added 68 before Head perished in the 11th over.

It was Hardik Pandya who provided the Men in Blue with the important breakthrough and before the Aussies could reorganise themselves and head towards a competitive total Hardik pegged Australia further with two more blows. India's vice-captain removed Steven Smith soon and also got rid of Marsh who was threatening to take the game away from the hosts.

Almost every other batter apart from Smith got starts but failed to capitalise and the Aussies had to pay a price for the same as their innings never got the kind of momentum it needed. The Indian spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel also proved to be very effective. Both spinners kept taking wickets and Kuldeep in particular looked a class apart and in control during the majority of his spell.

While Axar bagged two wickets, Kuldeep picked up a three-for which included a delivery that left the Aussie wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey gobsmacked.

Australia finished with 269 on the board and India will have to scale it down on a wicket that seems a bit challenging for batters.

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