India’s Sharma, Kohli deny Australia an ODI series sweep in Sydney

In what may have been their final ODI international in Australia, India avoided a whitewash against Australia when Virat Kohli rebounded from back-to-back ducks with a meticulous half-century.

Although neither player has confirmed that Saturday’s game was their final encounter in the Down Under, neither of them will feature in the upcoming five-game T20 series against Australia that will begin on October 29.

In what could be their final international series against Australia, both players batted off a 237-1 lead with more than 11 overs to spare, while Sharma recorded a 121-run, unbeaten 121 with 13 fours and three sixes and Kohli scored 74 not out.

After India lost its 18th consecutive toss in an ODI, fast bowler Harshit Rana’s 4-39, which included six of its bowlers, outlasted Australia for a record-breaking 236.

By winning the Adelaide match on Thursday by two wickets, Australia had won the series 2-0. In the rain-shortened opener in Perth, that came as a seven-wicket victory.

Shubman Gill, the captain of India, scored 24 runs off 26 balls before being defeated by Josh Hazlewood, the captain. It’s been a delight to watch Rohit and Kohli work together for so long.

Returning to form, Sharma and Kohli

At the Sydney Cricket Ground, where they shared a 168-run partnership, marking their first century partnership since January 2020, the crowd of nearly 40, 000 cheered loudly.

Before scoring his century with a single against the leg-spinner, Sharma twice lofted Adam Zampa (0-50) for sixes on either side of the wicket before scoring a strong sweep against the spinners on the front of square to complete his strong sweep.

When Kohli drove Hazlewood for a single to wide mid-on from the first ball he faced, he was dismissed without scoring at Perth and Adelaide. When Kohli cut Zampa to the point boundary and welcomed Mitchell Starc with a straight-driven boundary, Kohli’s confidence grew.

Kohli fought back to finish his half-century off 56 balls before falling short of the LBW review on 36.

Kumar Sangakkara (14, 234) and Kohli now trail only Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 18 426 runs with a score of 14 , 234.

Before Australia collapsed and were bowled out in 46.4 overs, Matt Renshaw (56) had already scored his maiden ODI half-century.

All six of Australia’s first six batters managed to reach the 20-run mark, but they were unable to lead by a score. India kept picking up wickets with regular intervals, losing four wickets for 18 runs after sitting comfortably at 183-3 in the 34th over.

Mitchell Marsh’s promising start came to an end when he gave himself too much room against left-arm spinner Axar Patel and was clean bowled on 41 in the 16th over after Travis Head (29) started aggressively before offering a tame catch off Mohammed Siraj at backward point.

For the fourth-wicket stand, Renshaw and Alex Carey added 59 runs, with Shreyas Iyer taking a stunning catch while turning around. When Renshaw advanced down the wicket to Washington Sundar (42-44)’s off-spin, he was out LBW in the 37th over, but he was hit low on the pads. Before Australia was bowled out, Ellis made a small cameo of 16 with three boundaries.

In the middle of our first innings, Marshall said, “We needed one more stand.” had a fantastic platform at 183-3, but was unable to cash in.