AHMEDABAD: KL Rahul and Virat Kohli made gritty fifties but Australian bowlers produced a clinical show to bowl out India for a below-par 240 in the World Cup final here on Sunday.
Sent in to bat on a slow and dry pitch, skipper Rohit Sharma once again provided India a flying start with a 31-ball 47 but Australia fought back, snapping three wickets to reduce the hosts to 81 for 3.
Kohli (54) and Rahul (66) then tried to resurrect the Indian innings, adding 67 runs before Pat Cummins removed the former. It was a struggle thereafter, as India failed to find the boundaries.Suryakumar Yadav (18) also couldn't make a mark at the back end.
For Australia, Mitchell Starc (3/55) picked three wickets, while Pat Cummins (2/34), Josh Hazlewood (2/60), Glenn Maxwell (1/35) and Adam Zampa (1/44) were the other wicket-takers.
Brief Scores:
India: 240 all out in 50 overs (KL Rahul 66, Virat Kohli 54; Mitchell Starc 3/55).
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Auckland, Jan 11: Asitha Fernando and Maheesh Theekshana shared six wickets as Sri Lanka bowled out New Zealand for 150 runs in 29.4 overs to win the third one-day international by 140 runs here Saturday.
Fernando took 3-26 and Theekshana 3-35 to jointly knock the top off the New Zealand innings as it chased 291 for victory. Eshan Fernando also contributed 3-35 as Sri Lanka completed a comprehensive victory.
New Zealand won the three-match series 2-1 in its last matches at home before the ICC Champions Trophy begins in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates next month.
Earlier, Pathum Nissanka made 66 in an innings of two parts as Sri Lanka compiled 290-8 after choosing to bat first. New Zealand then slumped to 21-5 inside seven overs as Fernando helped Sri Lanka unpick the New Zealand top order.
“It's a huge confidence boost for me and for the team as well because we haven't played well in the first two games. It's a pleasure to play like this,” Fernando said.
“We identified a few areas to be improved (after the first two games). Now we are going straight back to work to continue improving day by day.”
Mark Chapman was the only New Zealand batter to stand against the chaos, making 81 at a run a ball. Chapman's 51-run partnership with Nathan Smith (17) for the eighth wicket was New Zealand's hope of making a game of it. The run rate never got away from New Zealand but it lost too many wickets early to seriously challenge Sri Lanka's total.
Nissanka reached 50 from 31 balls but almost immediately fell to the ground in pain from an apparent groin or hip strain.
He tried to bat on but was clearly impaired while running between wickets and was 50 not out when he was summoned from the field by Sri Lanka coach Sanith Jayasuriya to receive medical treatment.
Matt Henry took 4-55 for New Zealand.