India restricted Australia to 242/9 in Nagpur. (PTI Photo)
Twice in the match Australia looked to fly away but twice India managed to pull things back. On the first occasion, it was the spinners who stopped Australia and later it was the tight bowling at death by pacers which helped India restrict Australia to 242 for nine in the 5th ODI in Nagpur. India brought back their pace pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar after the defeat in Bangalore and they showed why they are rated so highly as death bowlers.
Australia went from 100/1 to 118/4 and later from 205/4 to the final total. In between, Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis shared an 87-run stand. But the when Stoinins was looking dangerous, Bumrah trapped him in front. Australia could manage only 52 runs and two boundaries in the final 10 overs.
The start for Australia was very different from the finish. Openers Aaron Finch and David Warner were once again looking good for a big partnership and were on track as they put on 60 runs in the first 10 overs. On a slow Nagpur pitch, they wanted to make most of the powerplay before the spinners came on. While they managed to get boundaries without any risk in the first 10 overs, Finch decided to take the risk after that.
He went after Hardik Pandya in the 12th over but he the low bounce meant he hit it to mid-off. Then Axar Patel came on to ball. India removed bowled with Kedar Jadhav from the other end. Warner and Steve Smith looked composed at the beginning but the opener tried to hit Axar over the top. He holed out in the deep.
Smith tried to rotate the strike after getting off the mark with a four but Jadhav, who bowled the complete quota of 10 overs for the first time in his career, got him plumb in front while trying to sweep a full delivery. Peter Handscomb became Axar’s second victim as he skied a sweep.
Head and Stoinis rotated the strike well and picked the odd boundary as Head took the lead to take the risk. Stoinis meanwhile was happy to give the strike. Both were nearing half-centuries when Head was yorked.
The Indian spinners bowled 30 overs and shared four wickets for 130 runs. But, Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar bowled the final seven overs and did not let Australia score. They choked Australia with Bumrah is bowling toe-crushing yorkers and Bhuvneshwar keeping the line tight.
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