 "Ind vs Aus as it happened: Rohit's 209 trumps Faulkner's 116")
For the full, detailed scorecard, click here . 2201 IST Time for the post-match presentation. Shastri naturally is the master of ceremonies. George Bailey: “We obviously went pretty close there but outstanding innings from Rohit. We talked about having wickets in hand. We were probably ahead of where we wanted to be but didn’t have wickets in hand. “We knew it would be tough and we were going to have to play outstanding cricket. But all credit to the guys. It has been a wonderful series. [India is] almost a second home to a lot of a guys. The crowds have been fantastic and supported us, though obviously not as much as the home side.” No questions about the today’s run-out though. Shastri playing it up beat. Rohit Sharma: Right from ball one my game was plan was to stay there. Being a small ground, fast outfield. We knew it was going to be a big scoring game. Keeping wickets in hand was always going to be important. I was just trying to play the situation. “We also talk about building small partnerships. Our strength in this series has been making partnerships. Once we get to 100 we build big partnerships. “Credit must go to everyone. Important to hold our nerves. I want to forget about everything that has happened and start anew. Looking forward to the series against West Indies, which will be very important. MS Dhoni: “There was a moment when we were under pressure. It became quite a bit difficult. We wanted to get close to 300 and then try to explode from there. 383 was not in our mind. “This ground has the reputation of hitting more sixes than boundaries. difficult to contain the batsmen. Most of the batsmen love the Bangalore wicket. “The openers have done really well. Virat, Rohit, Shikhar. Would have been good if the middle order had got more runs. I am very happy overall. We have to look at our bowling though. “We have to improve. This is something we want to do on a team level. Nobody really talks about the Australian bowling line-up. I don’t want to be unfair to my bowlers but definitely death bowling we have to improve upon if we won to be a great side.” 2141 IST 45.1 overs: Australia 326 all out OUT! Faulkner swings a full toss from Shami to leg and Dhawan takes a very good catch running smartly to his right. All of India’s players rush to him and they end up in a big huddle. Dhoni punches the air and jumps in celebration. He also grabs a stump for good measure. Faulkner c Dhawan b Mohammed Shami 116 (73b 11x4 6x6) India win the match by 57 runs and take the series 3-2. It has been a tough one for bowlers but the batsmen, aside from Raina and Yuvraj, have padded their stats nicely. 2141 IST 45 overs: Australia 326/9 OUT! Jadeja gets one to grip and turn and it beats McKay’s outside edge and clips offstump. Jadeja uppercuts the air in delight as the fielders all run up to him. End of a 115 run-partnership to which McKay contributed 18. McKay b Jadeja 18 (37b 3x4 0x6) Australia need 58 from 5 now. 2136 IST 44 overs: Australia 323/8 Jadeja gave away just three runs in the 43rd over to squeeze Australia. There is no margin for error for the chasing side with only two wickets in hand. Bhuvi keeps the ball full to Faulkner and only concedes two singles to him and three in the over as well. At least one Indian bowler shows he can keep his head. Australia need 61 from the last 6 overs. Dhoni and Rohit would have finished it off in 3. 2128 IST 42 overs: Australia 317/8 McKay starting to score a few runs. Another elegant drive flies through the covers, this time off Jadeja. Faulker, on the other hand, keeps slamming sixes. Bhuvi goes for nine in his come-back over.2119 IST 40 overs: Australia 303/8 McKay gets a low full toss from Shami and plays a text-book high-left elbow cover drive to the boundary to bring up Australia’s 300. They still have 81 to get though. It has been a crazy match. And good entertainment if not quite the classic good game of cricket where bowlers have an influence on the outcome.
2111 IST 38.1 overs: Australia 294/8 A single gives Faulkner the fastest hundred by an Australian in ODIs. Taken him 57 balls and includes 11 fours and five sixes. Been a spectacular innings against the odds. 2109 IST 38 overs: Australia 292/8 Faulkner is deconstructing Vinay Kumar. Slaps him for three consecutive fours and then hammers him for six over midwicket to get to 96. A couple takes him to 98 and brings up VK’s 100 as well. Faulkner moves to 99 as 21 comes from the over. 2100 IST 36 overs: Australia 267/8 Faulkner continues to hammer Jadeja, picking up three fours in the 35th over, two on the offside and one on the legside. He currently averages 183 in this series because he has been out just once so far. All the sledging clearly hasn’t affected him. McKay has added 0 to their partnership of 61. 2046 IST 33 overs: Australia 240/8 Faulkner continues to use the long handle to hit Jadeja and Ashwin for six. Drives and cuts Jadeja for a couple of fours before slinging over long-on for six more to get to 49. Rohit tries to take a leaping catch on the boundary but the ball bursts through his hands. Brings up his 50 with single. Taken him 35 balls, so quite slow. He is not quitting, even if the task is more than herculean. 2034 IST 30.1 overs: Australia 211/8 OUT! Australia going down swinging here. Coulter-Nile tries to slog-sweep a full Jadeja delivery but only pops it up for Kohli to take a simple catch at long-off. 2034 IST 30.1 overs: Australia 211/8 OUT! Australia going down swinging here. Coulter-Nile tries to slog-sweep a full Jadeja delivery but only pops it up for Kohli to take a simple catch at long-off. Coulter-Nile c Kohli b Jadeja 3 (5b 0x4 0x6) 2025 IST 28.2 overs: Australia 205/7 OUT! Watson falls in the unluckiest of fashions. Plays a late cut off Jadeja that crashes into Dhoni’s thigh and loops gently to the man at short third man. A moment of confusion ensues before Watson realises he has to go. This is not Australia’s night. Watson c Mohammed Shami b Jadeja 49 (22b 2x4 6x6) Jadeja has some words with Watson, which is totally unnecessary. Kohli has words with Faulkner too during the break. Dhoni has to come over and calm his young batsman down. This is the flip side of too much aggression. Winning with class is important. 2023 IST 28 overs: Australia 204/6 Watson brings up Australia’s 200 with another punishing six off Shami. This after Faulkner plays a golf shot that goes over long-on for six. Australia not quitting on this chase yet. 2018 IST 27 overs: Australia 190/6 Watson dishes out the same treatment to Jadeja, getting down on one need to drive him for six, but aggravates his injury in the process. He grabs his right leg in clear discomfort. Faulkner finally gets in on the act by slamming Ashwin one bounce for four to long-on to bring up the 50 partnership from just 23 balls. 2013 IST 25 overs: Australia 177/6 Watson may be injured but he can still swing the bat. He drives Shami on the up over long-on and then plays a lovely stand-and-deliver cover drive for four. The fielders didn’t move for that one. VK is then pulled to deep midwicket. Keeps bowling short and keeps getting smashed. Watson treats him with even more contempt by swinging two more half-trackers for two more sixes. Then he adds a third in a row for good measure. VK just not learning anything. His 7 overs have gone for 76 runs. India should win this game but they need to take a good long look at their bowlers and how they wilt under pressure. 1957 IST 22.2 overs: Australia 138/6 OUT! Maxwell can’t keep it up. One ball after driving VK for six, he tries to pull a short ball outside off but skies the shot and Jadeja takes a well-judged catch. The Indians are jubilant. Maxwell c Jadeja b Vinay Kumar 60 (22b 3x4 7x6) It was a fantastic knock from Maxwell but at this stage too little too late. Shane Watson has come in at No 8. 1954 IST 22 overs: Australia 132/5 Maxwell brings up the 50-partnership with a slog-sweep for six off Ashwin. He has contributed 46 from 15 balls and the 50 partnership came up in 24 balls. It has been quite an assault and would have pushed India on the back foot had he done at No 3 instead of No 6. Maxwell brings up the fastest 50 by an Australian, and the second fastest ever, with a cover drive for six. Taken him 18 balls to get to the milestone. Spectacular counter-attack. He already has six sixes. OUT! Voges did not look comfortable all innings and now he has lost his legstump. Shami gets one to nip back in at pace and it stays low. Takes a deflection of his pad too. 1945 IST 20 overs: Australia 117/4 Ashwin comes back strongly for India, giving away just two runs. He keeps the ball full to Maxwell, stopping him from getting under the ball. Jadeja doesn’t learn from Ashwin though. Starts with a short ball that is pulled over deep midwicket for six. Picks up another boundary with a late cut, but just four this time. 12 from the over. 1940 IST 18 overs: Australia 103/4 Maxwell comes out swinging. Hits his first ball for six off Ashwin. He proceeds to take apart VK. Hits him for a huge six over square leg and then finishes the over by charging the bowler and driving him over long-off. 23 runs from the over. The second six also brings up Australia’s 100. Makes you wonder why Australia held him back. Maxwell surely was a better risk than Haddin up the order. And if he stuck around for a while, he’d be odds on to make a big score, which is what Australia need. 1933 IST 16.5 overs: Australia 74/4 OUT! Ashwin gets one past Haddin’s defense and it crashes into the offstump. Nobody is sure what happened though and the third umpire is called in. Replays clearly show the ball taking the stumps. Haddin b Ashwin 40 (49b 7x4 0x6) Haddin is Australia’s top-scorer so far but the gamble didn’t really come off. Took him far too long to make his 40 runs. 1926 IST 15.2 overs: Australia 70/3 OUT! Bailey has a brain fade. He flicks the ball to midwicket and then forgets he needs to get back to the keeper’s end for the second run and stops in the middle of the pitch to see if Haddin beats the throw from the deep. The bowler was alert to the opportunity and quickly threw the ball to Dhoni. Bailey tried a desperate dive to get in when he realised his mistake but it was too late. He slams his bat in to the ground in disgust. GJ Bailey run out 4 (12b 0x4 0x6) Adam Voges is the new batsman and Australia keep Glenn Maxwell in reserve. 1922 IST 15 overs: Australia 68/2 The required run-rate is creeping up towards 9 an over. Ashwin troubling both batsmen with the one that goes straight on with the arm. Still, Australia will know they can take on this Indian attack and will be biding their time. The big question is when to launch their assault having already lost two wickets. 1913 IST 12.1 overs: Australia 64/2 OUT! Ashwin strikes first ball. Hughes plays against the turn and flicks him straight to Yuvi at short mid-wicket. That was a soft dismissal. Hughes c Yuvraj Singh b Ashwin 23 (33b 2x4 0x6) George Bailey is the new man and he will need something very special to keep his side in this match. 1910 IST 12 overs: Australia 64/1 Australia starting to score more freely. Hughes picks up four with a flick off Bhuvi while Haddin pulls him to the boundary off the last ball of the over. The first of those brings up Australia’s 50. VK tries to bounce Haddin and is hooked to the square leg fence for his trouble. 1900 IST 10 overs: Australia 45/1 Vinay Kumar replaces Shami, who has 1 for 12 from 4 overs. Australia have struggled to get out of the gate thanks to some disciplined, and in Shami’s case quick, bowling. It will incumbent on VK not to release the pressure. Wickets in hand are the crucial factor in this series . He doesn’t quite do that, allowing Haddin to drive and flick him for boundaries. Nine from the over. 1849 IST 7 overs: Australia 29/1 Haddin manages a couple of boundaries off Bhuvi - one a lofted cover drive and the other a crunched flick through midwicket. But those shots are the exceptions. 1838 IST 5 overs: Australia 16/1 Australia making slow progress in their start after losing an early wicket. Required-rate is now over 8 an over. They might have been better served to send Glenn Maxwell up the order. You want your best hitter to face the most deliveries. Could have save Haddin for the dash at the end rather than a cameo up front. 1825 IST 1.2 overs: Australia 7/1 Australia are out in the middle. Will they stick with the same strategy of a slow-ish start so they wickets in hand for a final push. Or will they try and score a quicker in the early going to take some pressure off the finish? Shami and Bhuvi have the new balls for India. Finch starts with a boundary but just two come off the rest of Bhuvi’s first over. OUT! Shami strikes in his first over. Gets one to straighten at Finch and the ball hits him in front of legstump. The umpire thinks it would go on to hit. Finch lbw b Mohammed Shami 5 (5b 1x4 0x6) Brad Haddin is the new batsman. Remember Watson went off injured during India’s innings. 1810 IST Rohit’s last 109 runs came from just 44 balls:
1745 IST 50 overs: India 383/5 Dhoni adds a couple more fours before being run out off the last ball of the innings. Dhoni run out 62 (38b 7x4 2x6) Another mad, mad batting performance from India, led by the Rohit Sharma everyone always wished he could be. 209, the second highest score in One-Day International history and the third Indian to do it. He made six-hitting seem like a backyard knock with a tennis ball. Rohit: Getting a 200 in ODI format is a wonderful feeling. When I went out to bat, never thought I would get 200. Idea was to stay at the wicket. It is a small ground. “It was coming off really well. Just wanted to carry on like I did in the last game. Wanted to make sure that once I got my eye in, I would carry on.” “I just want to keep the momentum going and carry on.” On the Kohli run-out: “(Laughs) It happens. It is part and parcel of the game. No hard feelings there. I am sure he will get a hundred in the next game.
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1740 IST 49.3 overs: India 374/5 Rohit gets to 200 with another cover drive for another six - his 15h to tie the record. Spectacular knock from Rohit. He celebrates by swinging McKay over midwicket for his 16th six. This is video game cricket now, forget book cricket. OUT! Rohit flicks MacKay straight to the man at deep fine leg, who dives forward to take a good catch. End of a brilliant, brilliant innings. Sharma c sub (MC Henriques) b McKay 209 (158b 12x4 16x6) 1738 IST 49 overs: India 362/4 Coulter-Nile bowls a low full toss and Rohit crashes him over long-off for six to get to 190. A full toss is then dug out past point for four more. Mis-field at extra-cover allows Rohit to get back for the second and move to 196. It also brings up the 150-partnershp from 88 balls, 93 of which have come from the last 5 overs. A single gets Rohit to 197. Dhoni makes room and expertly finds the gap in the offside to bring up his own 50 from 35 balls. 1733 IST 48 overs: India 345/4 All kinds of fireworks happening now. Dhoni just manages to get his bat on a wide on and it flies over point for six. This is getting absurd now. Crowd chanting “Rohit, Rohit” when he takes strike. The helicopter shot comes out and the ball disappears into the crowd over wide long-on. Full outside off and it was gone, gone, gone. Even Dhoni stood to admire this one. 20 from the over. Ishant Sharma must be very happy he is not playing today. 1727 IST 47 overs: India 325/4 Rohit breaks the record for sixes in an innings by an Indian by swinging Doherty to deep midwicket. A lofted cut goes to point for four more befroe a full toss is sent high into the evening sky and into the second tier. A four and a third six over long-on to finish the over. 26 runs from it. Did I say India would not get to 350? I was very, very wrong. Rohit is on 183 and has a chance to get to 200 himself. 1723 IST 46 overs: India 299/4 Rohit toys with the bowling. An inside edge from a hoick goes to the square leg boundary so Bailey moves a man there and brings in the man from deep cover. Next ball Rohit crashes through the covers to the region just vacated by the fielder. He then goes down on one knee to hoick McKay over square leg for his 10th six of the inning, tying his batting-partner Dhoni’s record for India. 1717 IST 45 overs: India 283/4 Rohit becomes the third Indian to get to 1000 runs in ODIs this year with another crunching extra-cover drive. A single then takes him past his previous highest-score of 141 in the format. He has averaged almost 60 in one-day cricket in 2013. It has been a phenomenal and much-needed transformation and credit must be given to Duncan Ferguson for spotting the potential in Rohit. 1712 IST 44 overs: India 268/4 It has not been a good game for McKay. Rohit picks up a length delivery and swivels his hips to send it over square leg. That is his ninth six of the innings. India rattling along in the final overs once again. 1704 IST 42 overs: India 253/4 Rohit has gone past 1000 runs as an ODI opener with an average a tick over 50 (since he is still unbeaten in his innings). He crashes Faulkner on the up through the covers. Struck with immense power but no savagery. It was all timing. There are few people in world cricket who can hit the ball like Rohit. Dropped! Rohit pulls Faulkner powerfully straight to the bowler at square leg but sub fielder Moises Henriques lets it hit both hands and go over for six. Today is clearly Rohit’s day. He is on 127 with Dhoni on 14. 1656 IST 40 overs: India 232/4 Rohit has begun to open up again after getting to his 100. McKay is hit over cover for six before Faulkner is driven for four in the same region. With MS Dhoni at the crease, India could well get to 300 again, though 350 looks out of sight at this point. 1646 IST 37.4 overs: India 218/4 A lLofted cover drive over a packed infield for a single brings Rohit his 4th ODI hundred and second of the series. The crowd is going nuts cheering for Rohit. He scythes his bat through the air before raising his arms. He has done what he had to do after running out Kohli. He is now the highest run-scorer for India in this series, which is saying something. 1644 IST 37 overs: India 215/4 Batsmen settling for just singles for the time being. Rohit has moved to 99. Dhoni has 4. 1639 IST 35 overs: India 211/4 India have taken the batting PowerPlay. Rohit has moved on to 97 and it has to be said, opening has done him a world of good. Worth asking him to do the same in Test? 1631 IST 33.5 overs: India 207/4 OUT! Brad Haddin takes a blinder behind the stumps to send back Yuvi. Faulkner pitches it up and invites Yuvi to drive. The outside edge appears to be screaming past where first slip would be but Haddin dives full length and sticks out his left hand to intercept the ball. He then casually tosses it in the air after he gets back to his feet. Yuvraj Singh c †Haddin b Faulkner 12 (14b 0x4 1x6) Another failure for Yuvraj. 1623 IST 33 overs: India 203/3 Yuvi gets a top edge on an attempted hook but it sales over square leg for six. He was hurried into the shot but the quality of the bat enables him to get away with it. Rohit brings up India’s 200 with a delicate late cut past the keeper. 300 is on the cards if these two can stay together for another 10 overs or so with MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to come. 1615 IST 31 overs: India 188/3 No duck for Yuvi this time as he gets off the mark with a single. He likes this ground. Averages over 50 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. 1610 IST 29.3 overs: India 185/3 OUT! Raina falls to a spinner this time. Plays outside the line of the ball from Doherty, which straightened after pitching. It would have it middle stump if Raina’s pad had not got in the way. Raina lbw b Doherty 28 (30b 2x4 0x6) Raina has managed just 100 runs from his 4 innings in the series. Considering India have scored over 300 three times, that’s a very poor return. Then again, Yuvraj Singh, the man replacing him, has only scored 7 runs in this series and has three straight ducks to his credit. 1606 IST 29 overs: India 183/2 Trouble for Australia has Watson pulls him in his run-up and grimaces. He then walks off the field slowly. Might have tweaked a hamstring or his calf. Will let you know when we find out but this is another blow for Australia, who are already missing Johnson. Glenn Maxwell has to finish the over. Rohit says thank you and swings Maxwell over long-on for his fifth six and then over deep midwicket for his sixth six. 54 runs have come from the last five overs. 1600 IST 28 overs: India 169/2 Rohit has decided he needs to get after the bowling. Doherty pitches it up and Rohit swings the bat through the line and sends the ball over long-on. He repeats the shot one ball and gets six more. 16 end up coming from the over. Also brings up the 50-parternship between these two. 1549 IST 27 overs: India 153/2 Rohit relieves some of the pressure by charging Maxwell and hoisting him over long-on with the turn. That went deep into the crowd. Watson tries to bounce Raina and is pulled to square leg for a couple, then guided fine to the third man boundary to bring up India’s 150 in the 27th over. 1549 IST 25 overs: India 136/2 Rohit tries to run out Raina too. The left-hander gets half-way down the wicket before being sent back. Ganguly said it was good calling from Rohit, so that tells you all you need to know. Raina does play what looks like a gentle push but it races off the bat and past the mid-on fielder to the boundary. Top shot. And the first boundary for 9 overs. That’s how much things have changed. 1545 IST 24 overs: India 128/2 Australia have brought back their fast men to take on Raina. Meanwhile Rohit jabs down on one and gets it to third man for a single to bring up yet another half-century. Can he push on this time and make another hundred? 1537 IST 22 overs: India 119/2 Scoring suddenly looking a lot harder for India as Raina pokes tentatively at a couple of deliveries outside offstump. Rohit needs to get a big score today to make up for getting rid of Kohli. He is currently on 45 from 64 balls.
1528 IST 19.4 overs: India 113/2 1528 IST 19.4 overs: India 113/2 OUT! Disaster for India. Virat has been run-out for a duck. Wanted a single that was there for the taking to mid-on but Rohit was ball watching again. Virat was down at the non-striker’s end by the time Rohit realised he was running and sent him back but Kohli had no chance of making it. Kohli run out 0 (3b 0x4 0x6) Another terrible piece of running by Rohit. He almost ran out Dhawan earlier in the match in the same way. 1523 IST 19 overs: India 112/1 1518 IST OUT! The break seems to have disturbed Dhawan’s concentration. He plays around a good length delivery from Doherty that pitches in line and turns to hit the pad. That was plumb. And a lazy shot from Dhawan, who was looking to turn it to leg with the spin. Was late on the shot. Dhawan lbw b Doherty 60 (57b 9x4 0x6) The man of the moment - Virat Kohli - takes his place. That also happens to be Doherty’s first wicket in the series. 18 overs: India 109/0 1518 IST Quiet re-start to the game. Just two runs from Maxwell’s over. 17 overs: India 107/0 ESPNcricinfo is reporting that the covers are coming off. Of course, TV does not bother to provide an update. They would rather show highlights of the previous game and not provide the fans with any useful information. Play will start at 1515 IST with no loss of overs. 1448 IST 17 overs: India 107/0 It has started to rain in Bangalore and the covers are on the pitch. Siva says it is coming down harder now.
1444 IST 16 overs: India 103/0 Glenn Maxwell comes on. Australia bring up India’s 100 with a mifield by Finch on the cover boundary. Decides to bend instead of dive but misses the ball completely and appears to have injured himself in the process. India setting up another solid platform. This is all the 6th ODI hundred partnership between this two, all of which have come this year. 1436 IST 14.3 overs: India 93/0 Dhawan gets to his half-century with a single to point. Taken him 43 balls and includes 8 fours. 1435IST 14 overs: India 90/0 First signs of spin with Xavier Doherty. A bit of a mix-up when Dhawan wants a sharp single to short third man but Rohit is ball watching. Watson’s throw is wide though and forces Haddin away from the stumps, allowing Dhawan to get back. A misfield at mid-off gifts Dhawan four more runs when Coulter-Nile returns. Dhawan is on 48 from 41. Rohit is on 30 from 43. 1425 IST 12 overs: India 79/0 McKay comes back and straight away has trouble with his line. Down legside to Rohit this time results in four leg-byes. Eight from the over. Dhawan manages to turn Shane Watson fine enough to get to the fine leg boundary. Seven from his over. India cruising now. 1414 IST 10 overs: India 64/0 Faulkner looks to have produced a solid over until Rohit casually drives though a pitched up delivery and sends it sailing over the long-off boundary. When he hits shots like that, you wonder how he ever gets out. Then he plays a stupid shot and you remember. Watson still keeping things tight at the other end. Four from his over. 1404 IST 8 overs: India 52/0 Shane Watson replaces Coulter-Nile. Beats Rohit with a couple of beauties that hold their line and whistle past the outside edge. Just one off the over. 1400 IST 7 overs: India 51/0 Rohit stands tall and punches the ball through point to bring up India’s 50 in the seventh over. These two now have the highest average partnership of anyone pair to score more than 1,000 runs together ahead of Sachin Tendulkar and Ajay Jadeja. 1355 IST 6 overs: India 45/0 Dhawan is up for this game. A short-arm jab races away to the square leg boundary. Then the classic Dhawan drive scorches through the packed offside. “It is racing off the bat”, says Ganguly. Bailey pushes point to the boundary to compensate. So Dhawan flicks a full delivery to the deep midwicket fence. Dhawan has 29 from 18 balls. Rohit has 11 from 18. 1338 IST 5 overs: India 33/0 James Faulkner replaced McKay in the first change of the day but the batsmen looking untroubled so far. Rohit playing the anchor role again, which is how these two like to bat. Rohit glides a short ball to third man for four but those are the only runs off Faulkner’s first over. 1338 IST 3 overs: India 26/0 Dhawan starts firing early. McKay is wide outside off and Dhawan crashes him down the ground. The bowler than strays on to Dhawan’s pads and the batsman shows he can find the boundary in front of square and behind square. McKay struggling a bit against the left-hander. 17 from the over. 2 overs: India 9/0 Steady start opening couple of overs, as has been the trend in this series. Clint McKay and Coulter-Nile have been given the two new balls. Australia have a man at deep cover for Dhawan to stop his charging cover drive/slash. Sharma strikes India’s first boundary with a lofted drive over mid-on off Coulter-Nile in the second over. 1320 IST Let’s hope for the bowlers’ sake things are not so one-sided today. Here are the playing XIs: India: S Dhawan, RG Sharma, S Raina, V Kohli, Y Singh, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, V Kumar, M Shami. Australia: A Finch, P Hughes, S Watson, G Bailey, A Voges, G Maxwell, B Haddin, J Faulkner, N Coulter-Nile, C McKay, X Doherty 1300 IST George Bailey has won the toss and Australia have, unsurprisingly chosen to bowl first. After the damage Virat Kohli has inflicted on them, and with them missing Mitchell Johnson, who has flown home to get ready for the Ashes, bowling first was always their best option. They have made one forced change, with Nathan Coulter-Nile has come in for Johnson. George Bailey: “I expect this pitch to be no different. Bangalore is a good chasing ground.” [caption id=“attachment_1207941” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Virat Kohli needs 81 runs to be reach 5000 ODI runs faster than anyone else. PTI[/caption] Dhoni says he would have bowled first too. “Chasing is quite easy. Ball travels well. Good wicket. Outfield is quick. That is why we wanted to bowl first.” He expects the wicket to play the same for both sides and that the team which plays better cricket on the day will win the series. India have also made a change. Vinay Kumar has replaced Amit Mishra. Preview India will yet again rely on their batting firepower as they seek to clinch the one-day series against an equally-determined Australia when the two teams clash in the seventh and final match here tomorrow in what promises to be another high-scoring thriller. After two successive washouts in Ranchi and Cuttak, India rebounded to level the series 2-2 in Nagpur with yet another superlative show by their batsmen, who chased down a mammoth 351-run target. The incredible run chase brought back memories of India’s magnificent victory in Jaipur when they chased a stiff target of 360, achieving the second highest successful run chase ever in ODI history. The bowlers of both the sides are under tremendous pressure on flat batting tracks as despite the two washouts, more than 2500 runs have been scored so far. Even the score of 350 cannot be considered a cushion and tomorrow’s match is also likely to be another high-scoring tussle with the wicket at M Chinnaswamy stadium traditionally being a batting-friendly wicket. India will find the going a little easier as Australia’s pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson is on his way home to prepare for the Ashes. India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be hoping that his young teammates can maintain the tempo to turn the tables on the Australians who have won two seven-game series in the past against the hosts. Among the batsmen, Virat Kohli and opener Shikhar Dhawan are the top-scorers for the hosts as they have batted brilliantly. Dhoni himself has been a solid batsmen in the middle-order. Opener Rohit Sharma has also been instrumental in India’s good fight with his partnerships with Dhawan and the hosts would look forward to the openers to provide yet again a solid start. Preview from PTI
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