King Kohli's 41st ODI ton goes in vain as Australia seal a 32-run victory against India in Ranchi

Virat Kohli scored his 41st ODI hundred but that wasn’t enough to prevent India from losing the third ODI against Australia by 32 runs on Friday. Usman Khawaja’s hundred and Aaron Finch’s 93 saw Australia put up a more than decent 313/5. In reply, India could manage only 281 in 48.2 overs.

Earlier, Usman Khawaja hit his maiden century in ODIs scoring 104 runs off 113 balls while Aaron Finch made 93 runs as Australia posted 313/5 runs in 50 overs. The innings saw brilliant contributions from the all-rounder duo of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis also.

While the Indian skipper played a fantastic knock he lacked adequate support from the other end as Australia kept the five-match series consequential going into the fourth game in Chandigarh on Sunday. A valiant century by captain Virat Kohli went in vain as India lost by 32 runs against Australia at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi. 

Chasing a stiff target of 314 runs, India lost the opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan (1) and Rohit Sharma (14) cheaply with the score reading 15/2. Ambati Rayudu once again failed to score big as he was clean bowled by Pat Cummins for 2. 

India were tottering at 27/3 when Kohli was joined by MS Dhoni at the crease. They added 59 runs for the fourth wicket before Adam Zampa dismissed Dhoni for 26. Kedar Jadhav (26) then stitched together an 88-run partnership with Kohli to keep India alive in the run-chase. 

However, following the dismissal of Kohli on 123 off 95 (16 fours, 1 six), Indian batsmen failed to catch-up with the required run-rate. Vijay Shankar (32) and Ravindra Jadeja (24) managed to take India's total beyond 250. But the tailenders folded up quickly. With this win, Australia stay alive in the five-match ODI series that India still lead 2-1.