Cricket: India and Australia to play third and final ODI cricket in Rajkot
In Men’s Cricket, the 3rd and final ODI between India and Australia will be played at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot today. The match will begin at 1.30 p.m.
India has already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
In the first ODI at Mohali, India defeated Australia by 5 wickets. In the rain-interrupted second ODI in Indore, India emerged victorious by 99 runs by Duckworth-Lewis method.
India go into their last game ahead of the home ODI World Cup with several boxes ticked over the past week. This final fixture was meant to serve as a dress rehearsal for their first World Cup game against Australia on October 8 in Chennai, but they go into it with a severely depleted squad. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back though, and will have India’s first-ever ODI series whitewash against Australia on their agenda while adding to their momentum on the road to the showpiece event.
Australia, one of the favourites for the World Cup, have had a contrasting run of form. They arrived in India at the back after losing three successive ODIs against South Africa and have proceeded to add two more to the defeats column. Sean Abbott reckoned Australia’s dismal show in India had been down to lack of execution despite doing ‘some right things’ along the way.
Another defeat might still not mean much in the grander scheme of things as far as the World Cup is concerned for the five-time champions, but a win on Wednesday in Rajkot will do a world of good to the morale before they move to another daunting venue – Chennai – for their opener.
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav
Australia Squad: Matthew Short, David Warner, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey(w), Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Tanveer Sangha, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh.
