Australia give India 270-run target in third ODI; Kuldeep, Pandya provide vital breakthroughs

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 : Tight bowling spells by Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya helped India bundle out Australia for 269 in 49 overs in the third and final game of the three-match ODI series at MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Wednesday.
Mitchell Marsh scored the highest for Australia at 47 and made them from as many deliveries. Alex Carey played a knock of 38 runs. For India, Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav bagged three wickets each while Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj scalped two wickets respectively.
Opting to bat first, Australia got off to a flying start as their openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head made the Indian bowlers toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions.
The Aussie openers slammed a flurry of sixes and fours against Indian pacers. The batting pair of Marsh and Head were decisive in their approach. The Aussie batters rotated the strike, not allowing the Indian bowlers to settle as they whacked the loose balls on offer.
However, their dominance did not last long as Hardik Pandya provided India with a big wicket of Head. He returned after scoring 33 runs from 31 deliveries.
Australia captain Steve Smith came out to bat but could not stand for long against the Indian pacer attack as he also fell prey to Pandya.
The left-handed veteran batter David Warner then came out to bat. In the 15th over of the game, Pandya struck again to give India a big breakthrough as he removed well-set Mitchell Marsh.
Having scalped three wickets, Team India bowled a tight line and controlled the flow of runs. Hardik Pandya's over cost two runs while Ravindra Jadeja conceded only three runs in the 18th over of the game.
Kuldeep Yadav then joined the wicket-taking party as he dismissed Warner for 23. It did not take long for Australia to lose their fifth wicket as Labuschagne returned after scoring 28 runs.
Marcus Stoinis then came out to bat. Stoinis opened his hands and gathered 12 runs in Kuldeep's over. The Aussie do of Alex Carey and Stoinis slammed Axar Patel for 13 runs while stealing singles at regular intervals.
In the 37th over of the game, Patel removed Stoinis for 25. Kuldeep delivered an absolute ripper to bowl out set batter Carey for 38 and delivered a wicket-maiden over.
With seven wickets down, Ashton Agar and Sean Abbott handled Australia's charge and the duo kept piling runs while stealing singles.
In the 45th over of the innings, Abbott slammed Patel for two sixes before losing his wicket to the Indian bowler on the last delivery of the over. Abbott returned to the pavilion after scoring 26 runs.
Mitchell Starc then came out to bat. In the 46th over of the innings, Axar delivered a stunning delivery and removed Agar for 17 runs.
Siraj ended Australia's innings as he claimed the wicket of Starc for 10, helping India skittle out Australia for 269.
Brief score: Australia 269 (Mitchell Marsh 47, Alex Carey 38; Hardik Pandya 3-44) vs India.