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It was almost the perfect night for Australia – almost.
Once again the Australians were almost perfect with the bat and stacked their third largest ODI total from 4 to 389 to run away from 51 run winners in the night and series winners with a match.
Steve Smith hit another 62-ball century, the top 5 aggregate scored more than 50 points and Josh Hazlewood knocked down Virat Kohli again in a positive omen for the hosts before the first test.
But here it comes …
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But at the end of the night, Australian selection players, coach Justin Langer and captain Tim Paine, stood firm, crossing fingers and toes, waiting for the results of scans from David Warner’s pesky kidnapper.
Smith beats 16 boundaries!
2:14
Warner, who previously scored an impressive 83, got off to a flying start in India’s chase after falling awkwardly while diving to stop the ball. The opener immediately clung to his groin and struggled off the field before being thrown away for scans.
Depending on the severity, groin strain repair usually takes two to six weeks, and the Adelaide test is little more than two weeks away.
After previously having the headache of choosing between Joe Burns and Will Pucovski, the selectors may now have to choose both.
Aside from that one major injury concern, Australia had another memorable night at SCG.
One game after Smith beat the third-fastest century by an Australian men’s cricketer in ODI cricket, he was excruciatingly close to kicking those innings off the podium on the same ground.
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Diving stunners send Kohli
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The Australian maestro matched his 62-ball attempt on Friday with another one on Sunday and would have got there earlier for a ball if Marnus Labuschagne hadn’t slipped when there were two on offer.
Instead, he had to take a ride there to end Yuzvendra Chahal’s bowling and achieve his own historic mark as an Australian
It looked like more was to come as he drew a fancy round shot from the edge of the cut strip to reach another boundary of the ball after notching his barrel, but he dropped a ball later and brought Hardik to Pandya a floating slip.
He left with a score of 104 out of 64, with only 15 point balls total – he hit one more limit than supplies he was allowed to waste without disturbing the scorers.
Bird? Plane? No, Steve Smith
0:31
Smith’s century was once again the culmination of Australia’s innings and again it was one of many impressive contributions up and down the strike order.
There was another century stand between David Warner and Aaron Finch, both made up half a century.
Finch, 60, was the first to leave on the 23rd and Warner, 83, soon followed him back to the pavilion, which was excellently executed by Shreyas Iyer in depth.
It was the kind of wobble Australian teams have undone in the past, but with Smith in shape, the hosts’ rise stayed.
After getting off to a scratchy start at the start of the series, Smith checked out the goods from Getgo on Sunday, hit fifty in 38 balls and scored the second 50 in 24.
Warner HOBBLES from SCG
0:55
He was well supported by Marnus Labuschagne on a 136-run stand, and the junior batsman drew half a century for himself shortly after Smith left. He was dropped to 44 by Ravindra Jadeja – an easy chance by all standards – and raised his fifty, a 46 delivery, from the next ball he faced.
He went on to make 70 while Glenn Maxwell turned on cameo packed with another fireworks display and didn’t shoot 63 out of 29.
India threatened Australia for much of the hunt, but the hosts always seemed to have things under control.
Again the Indians flew out of the blocks, with Mayank Agarwal (30) and Shikhar Dhawan (28) completing 58 runs in the first eight overs before this fell gently onto Josh Hazlewood. Soon after, his opening partner followed him back into the pavilion, caught ninth bowling by Pat Cummins.
Maxwell piles up on the barrels
0:17
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, 38, pulled India back into the chase in a fast 93-run stance, only for Smith to re-enter the game and intercept a full-length Iyer pull shot at Midwicket from Hazlewood Bowling.
The Indians were not finished there, however. Kohli and KL Rahul added another 72 runs to prepare the match for a big goal. Unfortunately Hazlewood struck again just as the skipper started to click through the aisles when Kohli was spectacularly caught by Moises Henriques in Midwicket.
A 66-ball 77 from KL Rahul and a late hit from Haridk Pandya (28) and Ravindra Jadeja (24) pulled India past 300 from there, but victory never seemed likely.
Jadeja drops a rare sitter
0:26
Finch, Warner, open India!
1:39
Warne: Punish slow overs!
0:29
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