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Australia wins ODI series, Glenn Maxwell stars

Glenn Maxwell delivered Australia an ODI series win on Sunday, steering his side to a tense three-wicket victory over India in Melbourne.

India, invited to bat by Steve Smith, posted a total of 6-295 thanks to a run-a-ball knock of 117 from Virat Kohli.

Smith’s men chased down 300-plus totals in Perth and Brisbane, both venue records.

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Asked to reel in a target that was one run shy of an MCG record, they were again sitting pretty at 1-112 in the 19th over.

This time Ravindra Jadeja threatened to turn the game – and indeed the five-match series.

Left-arm tweaker Jadeja found the edge of Smith’s bat and bamboozled George Bailey, who was stumped.

Maxwell remained calm despite the dismissals of Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh and Matthew Wade that followed, guiding Australia from 3-150 to 6-295.

Getty

George Bailey is stumped by MS Dhoni. Photo: Getty

Maxwell fell for 96 when his side required one run to win, chasing the boundary that would have given him his second ODI century, but instead he skyed the ball.

James Faulkner, who finished 21 not out, completed the winning runs with seven balls remaining.

Maxwell was rightly named man of the match, having smacked an unorthodox six when the victory equation blew out to 58 runs off 45 deliveries.

The tight finish tested the mettle of Maxwell and Faulkner, both short of time at the crease, but for the most part neither panicked.

One glaring exception came in the 45th over, when Maxwell was on 73 and took off for a single after clipping the ball to Umesh Yadav at square leg.

Yadav opted against having a shy at the stumps despite Maxwell being a long way out of the crease, much to the chagrin of India skipper MS Dhoni.

There was also more Decision Review System (DRS) angst for Dhoni – and many amongst a crowd of 47,638 that was predominantly India fans.

The visitors had a caught-behind appeal turned down when Maxwell was on 47, with the snickometer suggesting there had been a faint edge.

Kane Richardson

Kane Richardson celebrates the wicket of Rohit Sharma. Photo: Getty

The result extended two impressive streaks.

Australia haven’t lost a match in any format since an ODI against England on September 11 last year, while they’re undefeated in ODIs at the MCG since March 2012.

However, the ease at which India continued to score raises further questions about the viability of Australia’s inexperienced attack.

Kane Richardson boasted the impressive figures of 1-5 after his opening three overs, having claimed the scalp of in-form batsman Rohit Sharma.

Sharma, who started the series with knocks of 171 and 124, was caught behind on six.

From that point on, Kohli took control of the contest despite four wickets to John Hastings.

Kohli stepped up in Sharma’s absence, forming key partnerships with Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane as he powered to three figures in the 43rd over.

Kohli also moved past 7,000 ODI runs – setting a new world record by doing it in 161 innings.

The 27-year-old’s malleable wrists were responsible for many of his runs, although a couple of heaved sixes off Scott Boland were all about power.

India made two bold calls at the selection table, promoting debutants Rishi Dhawan and Gurkeerat Singh at the expense of Ravichandran Ashwin and Manish Pandey.

– AAP

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