Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke on Monday responded to Harbhajan Singh's jibe on Australia batsmen after India took an unassailable 3-0 lead against the world champions by winning the third ODI of the five-match series in Indore. From a dominant position, the visitors suffered a 'mini-collapse' as they went down from 224/1 to 243/4 in the space of 26 balls as Indian bowlers exerted greater control towards the business end of the innings. Australia scored only 59 runs in the last 10 overs.
Harbhajan had tweeted to Clarke on Sunday, “Mate u need to come out of your retirement and start playing again I think. Era of Aussies producing top batsmen is over I feel. No quality.”
Replying a day later to the off-spinner's comments, Clarke said that the Aussies have some work to do. “I have only just seen this buddy. These old legs of mine are enjoying the air-conditioned commentary box. Aussies have some work to do!” tweeted Clarke.
After opting to bat first in the Indore ODI, Aussies got off to a good start with openers - David Warner (42) and Aaron Finch (124) providing a solid platform at the top. Comeback man, Finch scored his eighth ODI hundred for Australia and knitted a crucial 154-run stand with skipper Steve Smith (63).
But some wayward bowling from the visitors and pretty ordinary fielding helped India to easily overhaul the 294-run target without much fuss. All-rounder Hardik Pandya smashed a quick-fire 78 off just 72 balls to help India beat Australia by five wickets in the third ODI at Indore on Sunday. Pandya built on the groundwork laid by openers Ajinkya Rahane (70) and Rohit Sharma (71).
This was India's sixth successive win in a bilateral ODI series against all teams, it puts them on top in the ICC one-day rankings. Also, it was Australia's 11th loss in 13 ODIs away from home.
