INDIA VS AUSTRALIA (CARLTON MID ODI TRI SERIES MATCH 5)

          This particular match is a must win game for India. They have still not scored a point in this tri series and has lost to both England and Australia. Australia have won all three of their previous matches and are already in the final. India will have to beat both Australia and England to join them. If India lose this match, then they will have to beat England with the bonus point and also make their run rate above England's to qualify, which is almost impossible.

Toss:

George Bailey won the toss and decided to bowl first which is not surprising since all victories in this series till now have come for teams batting second. So that was a good decision by Bailey.

Match:

          The play started late due to rains. The opening combination for India was Shikar was Shikar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. Rohit Sharma has still not fully recovered from his injury but he will be soon. The first over, bowled by Mitchell Starc, gave only 1 run to India's scoreboard. The second over was an interesting one. After bowling three wides in a row, Josh Hazlewood made sure that he did not give any runs in the next 6 balls. After 2.4 overs of play, rain interrupted the game. This was not a good sight for India. The match started soon. Indians started slowly with both the openers taking their time to get established at the crease. In the first ball of the 7th over, disaster struck India as Shikhar Dhawan continued his bad form by getting out. The next man to the crease, Ambati Rayudu, played many shots in his knock of 23. Even though he only managed to get 23 runs, he played a vast variety of shots. He got out looking to make quick runs (to a fabulous catch by David Warner). A lot of hopes were on the next man at the crease, Virat Kohli. Meanwhile, Australians were bowling really well, not allowing the run rate to go above 5 runs an over. However, Rahane did a good job t remain not out till then. He faced 50 balls for 29 runs. After 16 overs, the skies opened up again and this time, it did not stop. Such a thing is really frustrating for a cricket fan. You sit in front of the TV hoping for an epic encounter and everything gets spoilt. In the end, it turned out to be a disappointing finish to what could have been an interesting match.

Result:

Play abandoned due to rain.

Now India will have to win their last game against England to qualify for the final. The good thing is that they won't have to look for the bonus point.