India versus Australia 2019, 5th ODI: Australia seal the series with 35-run win

Australia defeated India by 35 runs in the deciding ODI played at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi on Wednesday. Thanks to a century by Usman Khawaja and a 50 by Peter Handscomb, Australia posted a competitive total and then defended it.

The visitors' captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first. Finch and Khawaja gave the team a steady start; at the end of 10 overs, Australia were at 52 for 0.

After the power play overs, both continued to put pressure on the Indian bowling. But Ravindra Jadeja got the breakthrough by dismissing Finch for 27. The two openers had added 76 runs for the first wicket.

Khawaja continued his superb form reaching his fifty off just 48 balls. Handscomb also played with positive intent and gave the visitors some momentum.

Khawaja reached his 2nd century from 102 balls while Handscomb reached his fifty off 55 balls.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the wicket of Khawaja to end the 99-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. The Indian bowlers then made a strong comeback by picking wickets at regular intervals.

The hosts reduced Australia to 229 for 7 before Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson added 34 important runs to help Australia post 272 for 9 in 50 overs. For India, Bhuvneshwar took 3 for 48, while Mohammed Shami and Jadeja took 2 wickets each.

Chasing the target of 273 runs to win, India lost an early wicket in the form of Shikhar Dhawan. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma then steadied the innings with some lovely stroke play. At the end of 10 overs, the duo had taken India to 43 for 1.

Both were looking good before Marcus Stoinis got the big wicket of Kohli for 20 runs. Rishabh Pant then failed to take his chance and was dismissed for 16.

Vijay Shankar and Rohit added 29 runs for the 4th wicket, before Shankar played a bad shot off Adam Zampa after hitting a six.

Rohit reached his fifty off 73 balls. But he also played a poor shot off Zampa's bowling, and Jadeja was then stumped to reduce India to 132 for 6.

Bhuvneshwar and Kedar Jadhav prolonged the inevitable, taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries to keep India in the hunt. Bhuvneshwar looked impressive with his technique while Jadhav also played some inventive strokes.

Just as things were starting to look good for India again, Bhuvneshwar tried to hit a big shot and departed for a well-made 46. Bhuvneshwar and Jadhav had added 91 runs for the 7th wicket.

Jadhav too went in the next over which dashed India’s hopes of winning the match. The hosts were eventually bowled out for 237.

Brief scores: Australia 272 for 9 in 50 overs (Usman Khawaja 100, Peter Handscomb 52, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/48, Mohammed Shami 2/57) beat India 237 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 56, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 46, Kedar Jadhav 44, Adam Zampa 3/46, Pat Cummins 2/38, Jhye Richardson 2/48) by 35 runs.