India produced a well-organized bowling performance, spearheaded by Harshit Rana, to bowl Australia out for 236 in 46.4 overs in the third and final ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After winning the toss and opting to bat first in the dead rubber, Australia failed to capitalize on a solid start, collapsing in the latter stages against India's attack.
Openers Travis Head, 29 and captain Mitchell Marsh, 41 provided Australia with a brisk start, putting on 63 runs inside the first PowerPlay. Mohammed Siraj made the breakthrough, dismissing Head caught at point. Marsh continued briefly before being bowled by Axar Patel for 41, leaving Australia at 92/2 in the 16th over.
Matt Renshaw drove the middle order, top-scoring with 56 off 58 balls. He shared partnerships with Matthew Short, 30 and Alex Carey, 24. However, India kept chipping away with wickets. Washington Sundar removed Short, caught sharply by Virat Kohli, and later trapped Renshaw lbw. Harshit Rana claimed the wicket of Carey, thanks to a diving catch by Shreyas Iyer, who appeared to injure himself in the process.
From a reasonably stable 197/4, Australia lost their last six wickets for just 39 runs. Rana was central to the collapse, removing Mitchell Owen caught at slip before returning to dismiss Cooper Connolly, 23 and Josh Hazlewood in his final spell to finish with four wickets. Kuldeep Yadav bowled Mitchell Starc, 2, while Prasidh Krishna accounted for Nathan Ellis, 16, as Australia were bundled out before completing their 50 overs.
While Adam Zampa took four wickets for Australia in India's previous innings, here India's bowlers shared the spoils, setting their batters a target of 237 to chase for a consolation victory in the series.
