Hardik Pandya undaunted by new challenges, set sights on more heroics

“He is a great asset for Indian cricket”, Kohli said after the match. Pandya went on to score 78 runs from 72 balls, getting out only before taking India to the doorstep of victory.

Australian Captain Steve Smith credited the Indian pace bowlers for bowling well towards the end of their innings and restricting them to under 300 and blamed poor shot selections of batsmen for failing to take advantage of the platform set by Finch.

Three seventies were scored by Hardik Panday, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rohit Sharma.

In Sharma’s case that included launching Kane Richardson out of the ground. “I have been hitting sixes since childhood otherwise”, Pandya told reporters at the post-match press conference.

The Australian innings however ended abruptly after the duo’s departure as the batsmen who followed managed to add up only 50 runs in the last 8 overs. The captain had a broad smile on his face as he says Pandya delivers with the bat after promoted to number four.

Also, the win on Sunday helped Virat Kohli in equaling MS Dhoni’s record of nine consecutive one-day global (ODI) wins as captain. Pandya then found an able partner in Manish Pandey and they kept rotating the strike well and also hitting boundaries at comfortable ease.

Rohit was dropped on 67 by stumper Peter Handscomb off Cummins but could not make full use of the chance and soon miscued one from Coulter-Nile to be caught by Hilton Cartwright at deep mid-wicket.

Finch put on 70 with David Warner (42) before the latter was bowled by a Pandya off-cutter and then 154 with Smith – the pair’s third successive hundred stand for the second wicket.

Having won his first toss of the series, Australian captain Steven Smith made a decision to bat first on a seemingly flat surface at the Holkar Stadium. Hardik Pandya had whacked Ashton Agar for a six and a four, and wound up to do it again.

Earlier, Finch (124, 125b, 12×4, 5×6), playing his first game of the series, struck a fluent century before India bounced back in the last 10 overs to restrict Australia to 293 for six.

Following their 5-wicket victory against Australia at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, India not only took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5-match series but also surged to the top of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) official rankings.

Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya chipped in with one wicket each.

After clinching the series in Indore, Team India will be traveling to Bengaluru for the fourth ODI which will be played on Thursday and the final match will take place in Nagpur on Sunday.