India and Australia took the field for the final ODI of the five-match series which the hosts lead 3-1 at Nagpur on Sunday.
Virat Kohli’s men had won the opening three games to take an unassailable lead in the series but the Aussies had come back strongly to win the fourth ODI at Bengaluru.
India made three changes to the side from the loss at Bengaluru, with Bhuvneshwar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah coming back in place of Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami while Kuldeep Yadav replaced the ill Yuvzendra Chahal.
Australia were without the services of their hero Kane Richardson, with James Faulkner replacing the under the weather pacer.
Smith won the toss once again and elected to bat first on a relaid pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium where the chasing teams has won five out of the six ODIs played at the ground.
Australia win the toss and elect to bat first in the fifth and final @Paytm ODI #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/5bhctFOpBF
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 1, 2017
The Aussie opening pair of Aaron Finch and David Warner one again gave their side a strong start, as they have done in the previous two matches.
Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah found the going tough on a pitch with little to no assistance at all for the seamers. The 50-run partnership came up in quick time as both batsman picked boundaries at will.
It was India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya who got the opening breakthrough for the hosts when he had Finch chipping in the air only for Bumrah to complete an awkward catch at mid-off.
India’s spinners were brought on quickly by Kohli on a pitch which was slowing down considerably. David Warner brought up his 17th ODI half-century as he continued from where he left off in Bengaluru.
It was the golden arm of part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav that brought India its second wicket when Smith tried to play across the line to a straighter delivery only to miss and be trapped leg before wicket.
The Indian spin attack of Yadav and Axar Patel along with Jadhav stifled the Aussie charge as the batsman found them difficult to get away on the slow pitch.
Warner shattered with that dismissal.
Head and Handscomb out in the middle now #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/DuyNRRCVQB
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) October 1, 2017
Warner became Patel’s first victim when he charged down the track only to chip the ball straight into the hands of Manish Pandey at long-off, leaving Australia at 3-112.
Patel’s left-arm spin claimed its second scalp when Peter Handscomb top-edged a sweep into the hands of Ajinkya Rahane as the visitors were reduced to 118-4.
From that point on, Travis Head and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis defied the Indian spinners in a 87-run stand. The pair found the boundaries hard to come by as the spinners maintained their dominance but stuck it out in a gritty stand.
Axar Patel gets his 3rd wicket of the match as Travis Head is bowled! 🇦🇺 have lost half their side and 7 overs remain.#INDvAUS
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 1, 2017
Ultimately Patel broke the partnership to pick up wicket number three when he clean-bowled Head with a full and straight delivery after the Aussie attempted a premeditated sweep.
Stoinis fell soon after when he was trapped on the pad by a vicious Bumrah in-swinger. The all-rounder reviewed the decision but had to walk back to the pavilion after the umpire’s call upheld the verdict.
The loss of the two set batsman set Australia back at the death overs as the new batsman found themselves under immense pressure to up the run-rate.
Bumrah exhibited some terrific death-overs bowling after going for 34 runs in his first four overs as he conceded only 17 in his remaining six along with the wicket of Matthew Wade.
Two wickets in the final over of the innings by Bhuvneshwar meant that Australia finished their innings eight runs short of the 250-run mark to set India a target of 243.
