Even though the fate of the three-match series between India and Australia was already decided in Indore, in the final fixture at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Wednedsay (September 27), it was Australia who registered a consolatory victory to end series 1-2. India had already won the first two matches of the series. This was both the teams' last ODI fixture ahead of the ICC Men's World Cup 2023 set to commence on October 5. Even though both these teams will play two warm-up matches before the marquee event, those haven't been granted official status.
In an inconsequential game from the series' point of view, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. They then managed to post 352/7 with each of their first four batters smashing half-centuries, with Mitchell Marsh narrowly missing out on a hundred, departing for 96. David Warner (56), Steven Smith (74) and Marnus Labuschagne (72) were the other half-centurions on what were difficult conditions in the hot and humid of Rajkot.
In reponse, even though Rohit Sharma slammed a superb 81 with Virat Kohli also scoring a half-century, no other batter could really take the chase deep and India eventually went on to lose the match by 66 runs. Glenn Maxwell finished with a four-wicket haul and was adjudged the Player of the Match for his bowling performance after having failed to chip in with the bat, scoring just 5 off 7 balls.
"Great first hit out for Starc and Maxwell. They both haven't played a lot over the last couple of months. Maxy four-for and Starcy looked like he was in great rhythm so I couldn't be happier," Australia's captain Pat Cummins said at the post-match interview.
He suggested that Marsh could potentially continue to open the batting for Australia come the World Cup.
"Trav Head won't be ready for the start of the tournament. The way Marsh and Warner started today looks like a pretty dangerous combination. They look pretty good," he added.
Meanwhile, India's captain Rohit Sharma also said the was happy with own form having scored 81 off 57 balls in a knock studded with six maximums. He revealed that he was happy with the team's preparation ahead of the World Cup as they clinched the series 2-1.
"The last 7-8 ODIs we've played really well in different conditions. We were challenged at different times and we took that challenge really well. Unfortunately not the result we wanted today but I'm not going to look too much into this game," he said.