Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Top 5 Australia-India ODIs since 2000 | Reliving the best Australia-India One Day Internationals since 2000 | Classic matches AUS vs IND
After a long wait, India and Australia lock horns down under on the 27th of November in an ODI game, which will see the start of a long, almost two-month tour for the Men in Blue. The last time India toured Australia, they created history and had one of the most successful overseas tours for the team.
Though historically Australia has been the stronger side by a mile, the tables have turned in the last decade or so, and regardless of the strength of the sides, these two teams have been a part of some really close thrilling encounters. In this article, we will have a look at 5 of those.
India beat Australia by 2 wickets, October 17, 2007, Mumbai
India’s talisman with the ball, Zaheer Khan, gave India the perfect start by catching Michael Clarke on the crease as the ball nipped back in to smash his pads. Skipper Ponting and Gilchrist added 60 runs in the next 9 overs to land the Aussies in a firm position before Gilchrist departed. Another steady partnership between Hodge-Ponting and Aussies were 117/2 before 20th over. But before Aussies could run away with the game, Murali Kartik removed Hodge and dangerous Symonds on back to back deliveries. With Ponting getting out after a few overs, the Australian inning never recovered and crumbled on 173. Murali Kartik with an astonishing and a beautiful spell of 6/27.
A target of 194 was not daunting but never easy against the mighty Aussies. Sourav Ganguly & Dinesh Karthik, both back in the hut for 0. A confident-looking Tendulkar chopped on a ball from Brett Lee. Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni both fell prey to Bracken and Irfan Pathan failed to get off the mark and India were 63/6. That 194 was looking more like 294 with only Robin Uthappa remaining at the crease out of all the recognized batters.
Uthappa was in fine form and as Harbhajan Singh backed him from the other end with his slow but important knock, as the target then seemed well within the reach. But within the span of 4 overs, both were back in the hut and India were 143/8, looking gone despite a fighting 47 from Uthappa.
India still needed 51 with Zaheer Khan & Murali Karthik at the crease, but a series of incredible hits saw the target come closer and closer. Eventually, an outside edge from Karthik and a leg glance by Zaheer brought the target within one hit. Then, Johnson bowled a full leg stump delivery which hit Karthik’s pads and ran away, and Wankhede erupted in the acknowledgment of two of the unlikeliest batting heroes.
India beat Australia by 8 runs, May 5, 2019, Nagpur
A game which turned into a thrilling contest by the end of it because of the ebbs and flows it had, this is another of the many close games these teams have played in the last few meetings. Rohit Sharma got a 6 ball duck and Shikhar Dhawan departed in the 9th over as India was in a spot of bother at 38/2. Virat Kohli was at his business in his usual manner but he hardly received any support from the other end except an important knock of 46 by Vijay Shankar batting at 5. India could manage only 250, many thanks to a quality knock from Virat Kohli, who looked like he was batting on a different surface to everyone else.
Australia started very well in their pursuit of a modest 251, thanks to an almost run-a-ball opening partnership of 83. But, regular wickets halted progress until Marcus Stoinis provided really good support to the in-form Peter Handscomb before he was run out by Jadeja. Australia needed 80 from 75 balls when he got out. Stoinis was going strong at his end but received little support from the other end.
Australia needed 21 from 18 balls and Jasprit Bumrah bowled a fantastic over to Stoinis, conceding only 1 run. What followed was a good five balls from Shami but his over was ruined when a ball down the leg side was sent to fine leg boundary by Nathan Lyon. With Australia needing 12 from the last over, captain Virat Kohli went with Vijay Shankar to bowl the last over, and the medium pacer held his nerve to dismiss Stoinis and Zampa to enable India to win by 8 runs.
India beat Australia by 9 runs, 9 March, 2008, Brisbane
After a controversial Test series thanks in large to events that took place at Sydney, India made a really good comeback in Tri-Series between themselves, Sri Lanka, and Australia. India made it to the finals and won the first final thanks to a hundred from Sachin Tendulkar and disciplined bowling performance.
In pursuit of a famous win in the second Final, India started their innings in a good manner. Uthappa, known for his clean striking, smashed only one four in his inning of 30. But, more importantly, he formed an important partnership of 94 with the in-form Sachin. An entertaining cameo from Yuvraj Singh meant India was in a healthy position of 175/2 in the 35th over, but just before India thought of launching an assault, Tendulkar departed on 91 in 40th over. A collapse of sorts and India could only manage 53 runs in the last 64 balls, finishing their inning on a decent 258/9.
After early wickets, Australia then looked like they had the upper hand in the game, until Hayden was run out by the duo of Yuvraj and Harbhajan. Just in a space of few balls, Harbhajan’s off-break saw Symonds depart as he was trapped in front. India now had firm control of the game but Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey had some other ideas. In his usual manner, Hussey kept the scoreboard ticking and in quick time, he was batting on 44 with a strike rate over 100. Australia needed only 60 runs in 49 balls, they had the upper hand but Hussey nicked a wide ball from Sreesanth to Dhoni, and the game again tilted in India’s favor.
James Hopes kept fighting but his brilliant efforts didn’t prove to be enough as, after Hussey’s departure, no other batsman crossed double digits. With 11 required from last over, Irfan Pathan first got rid of Nathan Bracken on the 2nd ball and needing 10 from 3, James Hopes hit a ball straight to cover to give India the win.
India’s win in this Tri-Series is one of their most celebrated wins ever.
Australia beat India by 3 runs, 5 November 2009, Hyderabad
A game where the player from the losing side was adjudged man of the match and rightly so. It is, to date, one of the best knocks ever by a batsman in a losing cause and perhaps one of the best ever knocks, full stop.
Australia, courtesy of Watson, Ponting, White and Hussey, notched up a huge 350; a daunting score ahead for a scratchy Indian line-up.
India got off to a blistering start, thanks to Sehwag, who scored 26 of his 38 runs in boundaries. On the other end, Tendulkar started cautiously. Gambhir’s stay at the crease was short and so was Yuvraj’s inning. But by this time, Tendulkar had picked up the pace.
At the time of Yuvraj’s dismissal, India were 126/3 in 19th over, Tendulkar batting on 66 from 60 balls, had struck 56 runs in his last 41 balls. Dhoni’s scratchy 15 ball 6 was over thanks to a stunner from Adam Voges. Tendulkar, once again, was running out of partners and it looked like another tame end to a good start was on the cards but ever-reliable Suresh Raina had some other ideas.
A cautious start was turned into a confident one when he smashed Waston for a Six to mid-wicket and then a four through covers, in typical Raina fashion. Meanwhile, Tendulkar got to another hundred, off 81 balls, before smashing a six off Voges to keep things moving.
That got India going, as they amassed 98 runs in the next 12 overs. India needed only 52 from 48 balls and target looked well within reach but Shane Watson first removed Raina, when he top-edged while trying to pull a ball.
The quick wicket of Harbhajan saw the match tilt again in Australia’s favor. Jadeja started cautiously but then turned it on with a flurry of boundaries, to get him to 20 of 13 balls. The target of 23 from 22 balls meant that India again had the upper hand.
But, five balls later, Tendulkar tried to scoop a ball from Clint McKay over fine leg but the ball went straight up and his incredible stay at the crease was over. India still needing 19 from 17 balls with 3 wickets in hand but the madness was just about to start. 2 balls after Sachin’s departure, Jadeja literally ran himself out, trying to steal a single when there wasn’t one; non-striker Pravin Kumar sent him back but it was too late. India needed 16 from 12 and Bollinger removed Nehra to strengthen Australia’s hold on the game. Next ball, straight into stands, Pravin Kumar with a mighty blow over long-off. 2 dots, a leg, and a single by Munaf Patel meant India needed 8 runs from the last over. Shane Watson with the ball in hand, India managed to take three singles of the first 3 balls, the target was within a hit with 3 balls remaining but as Pravin Kumar tried to come back for a double after a hard hit to long off, Nathan Hauritz’s throw proved to be good enough for Australia to run him out and win this match by the margin of 3 runs, despite Tendulkar’s incredible 175.
Australia beat India by 4 wickets, 19 October 2013, Mohali
After a record and an incredible chase by India 3 days before at Jaipur, India were batting first in Mohali and they were in an awful lot of trouble as the scorecard read 76/4 by the end of the 13th over. 2 of the heroes of the last game were gone and out of form Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were back in the pavilion.
India found themselves 154/6 after 31.3 overs, with only Dhoni out of the recognized batters on the crease. Dhoni fetched only his 2nd boundary after 68 balls when he cut a short ball from Johnson to the fence, as the Indian skipper slowly found his groove. 3 overs later, India scored 14 runs from an over of Faulkner but a few quiet overs meant India’s score was 202/6 after 40 overs – a delicate situation. Dhoni smashed a four and a six of Doherty but 2 overs later, Ashwin was dismissed for a fine supporting knock of 25, thanks to that man Johnson again.
Soon after, India were 247/7, needing a Dhoni special to cross the important 300 in 4 overs. A four of the 2nd ball of 48th over saw Dhoni reach his hundred. 15 runs in the next over and 21 runs of Faulkner’s last over helped India reach 303/9. Dhoni with a gem of a knock of 139 runs from 121 balls, 84 of which came in the last 50 balls, gave India incredible momentum.
In response was a blistering start from Australia, which saw at least one boundary from 9 of the first 10 overs and they needed 240 runs from 240 balls. Two back to back quite overs and finally, India had their breakthrough when Vinay Kumar got Phil Hughes to edge a ball to Dhoni. 3 overs later, Finch was adjudged LBW off Ishant, Jadeja trapped Watson in front and Australia were 90/3 after 20overs.
The reliable George Bailey got in and looked well on his way to another good knock in support of Adam Voges. Both kept the scoreboard ticking with good running between the wickets with the help of occasional boundaries and Australia scored 81 runs from the next 16 overs, needing 133 from the final 14 overs.
But, Vinay Kumar came back into the attack, and George Bailey was trapped in front. Three balls later, Maxwell was run out due to a bizarre mix-up between he and Voges, and Australia were left needing 130 in last 13 overs.
After a plethora of steady overs from India, Australia then 44 needed from 18, with the match firmly in India’s grip. But, then came Ishant Sharma’s infamous over. Four through extra cover, a smash over the cow corner boundary, a length ball dispatched for six over side screen, a double, short ball hooked for another six and another reckless short ball smashed a long way courtesy another pull stroke.
This is how the over went by.
Ishant Sharma kept bowling length to James Faulkner, who was at the prime of his batting form and had to take little to no efforts to smash them out of the park and took 30 off his over. Australia needed only 14 in the last 2 overs and they got there with 3 balls remaining, and it was fitting that it was another six from Faulkner to end the match. There was pin-drop silence in the crowd right since when Ishant bowled the last ball of his over, as the result was a mere formality after that in a game where the pendulum kept swinging in the favor of both the teams. Faulkner’s ferocious power came to Australia’s rescue.
