Down Memory Lane: Australia’s Last Five ODI Series in India

Having lost a bilateral series for the first time at home under his leadership, Virat Kohli will be eager to ensure India’s ODI juggernaut hits no roadblocks as they gear up for the five-match series against Australia with an eye on the 2019 World Cup.

Australia haven’t had much success in recent times and their record in India is hardly inspiring. They last won an ODI series against India in India was way back in 2009-10 when they won 4-2.

We look back at the last five ODI series played out between two nations in India.

Hardik Pandya – The five-match series in 2017 was all about the all-rounder who was named the Player of the Series. He was awarded the Player of the Match in two of the four ODIs that India won in the series.

Pandya played a vital hand in India winning the first ODI, scoring 83 in just 66 balls to take his side to 281/7 and his 2/28 with the ball sealed the game.

Virat Kohli (92) and Kuldeep Yadav then ensured the hosts were too good for the tourists in Kolkata with the latter taking a hat-trick.

Batting at No. 4 in the third fixture, Pandya showcased his skills once again as he helped India chase down 294 with a 72-ball 78.

Australia did manage to pull one back winning the fourth ODI after putting a massive total of 334, but Rohit Sharma’s century in the final encounter set it up for the home side to win the game by seven wickets and take the series 4-1.

The 2013 ODI series saw the bat dominating the ball with as many as nine centuries being hit during the course of the series – including a double century from Rohit Sharma in the final ODI. Australia began well winning two of the first three ODIs before rain and wet outfield saw two games being called off.

With a score line of 1-2 in favour of the tourists, India needed something special going into the last two ODIs.

Chasing 351, Shikhar Dhawan (100) and Kohli (115 not out) scored centuries to gun down the target with six wickets in hand. It was reminiscent of the effort by Rohit and Kohli in the second ODI at Jaipur where India chased down 360. Rohit anchored the innings with a 123-ball 141 while Kohli played the aggressor and his 52-ball 100 saw India romp home by nine wickets with 39 balls to spare.

More mayhem awaited bowlers as Rohit hit a gob smacking 209 to take India to 383/6. Australia fought hard with James Faulkner scoring a 73-ball 116 but could not see his side home and India won the series 3-2 with the opener being awarded the Player of the Series Award.

India won the three-match ODI series 1-0 having won the second ODI by five wickets. The first and last ODI had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain.

In the second ODI, the visitors posted a challenging total of 289 for 3 on the back of an unbeaten century by Michael Clarke (111).

India though managed to chase down the score thanks to a masterclass by Kohli who hit a 121-ball 118 with vital contribution from Suresh Raina (71 not out).

Interestingly, the match had four debutants – two each for India and Australia. Shikhar Dhawan and Saurabh Tiwary for the hosts while Australia had John Hastings and Mitchell Starc making their ODI debut.

Australia began the seven-match series with a four-run win before India came back strongly in the next two games. MS Dhoni hit a century at Nagpur to set up a 99-run win despite a fighting 53 from the hero of the first ODI in Michael Hussey.

The hosts then chased down 230 in the third game with Dhoni (71 not out) combining with Yuvraj (78) sharing a 148-run stand.

Australia then levelled the series 2-2 with a 24-run win at Mohali thanks to Shane Watson whose miserly spell of 3/29 kept India in check chasing 251.

India looked poised to chase down 351 in the fifth ODI with Sachin Tendulkar smashing a brilliant 175 at Hyderabad but as was the case in the previous decade, once he got, India lost their last three wickets for just 15 runs to end up losing by three runs.

With all to play for, the tourists bowled out the home side for 170 with Doug Bollinger taking 5 for 35 and Australia chased down the target with ease to take the series 4-2 with the last match being a washout.

During this Michael Hussey scored 313 runs with an average of 104.0 – his personal best in any series.

Dhoni scored 285 runs in Australia’s 2009 tour of India – 2nd most by any captain and also designated wicketkeeper in a bilateral series vs Australia. He faced 386 balls while doing so – most by any wicket keeper-batsmen vs Australia in bilateral series.

The series began with a no result at Bengaluru but Australia had shown their prowess notching up 300+ total on board. They continued their good work and posted scores in excess of 285 in the following games and won them convincingly.

It was MS Dhoni’s 50 from just 35 balls in the third ODI which turned about to be a crucial knock as Australia failed to chase down 292 despite an 84-ball 75 from Andrew Symonds to give India an 8-run win at Chandigarh.

Any hopes of India building on that win were squashed as they were bundled out for just 148 at Vadodra. Mitchell Johnson posted bowling figures of 5/26 and India could do nothing as Adam Gilchrist stroked an unbeaten 77-ball 79 to see his side over the line.

Having lost three games in the first five matches, India were in for more punishment as Andrew Symonds blasted a 88-ball 107 to power Australia to 317 for 8. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly shared a 140-run opening stand in reply but once they fell, India lost wickets regularly to lose the game by 18 runs.

The final ODI in Mumbai though was a humdinger as Murali Karthik wreaked havoc to take 6/27, those figures are still the best against Australia by any spinner in ODIs. India though were in deep trouble at 143 for 8 chasing 194 but an unbeaten stand between Zaheer Khan (31 not out) and Kartik (21 not out) saw India inch home by two