Kohli slammed for ‘selfish’ act in fourth ODI

Australia captain Steve Smith praised David Warner after the opener smashed a century in his 100th ODI to help the Aussies beat India in the fourth game of the series Bangalore on Thursday. The clouds, which threatened to open up through the day, did so in the 42nd over of India’s innings and halted play for 19 minutes with India two runs behind the DLS par score of 253.

Kohli also mentioned that Australia could have posted a higher total after the blistering start they got, courtesy the opening stand of Warner and Finch. Smith nevertheless threw it to the striker’s end, only for Handscomb to pick up the overthrow at mid-wicket and run Sharma out at the bowler’s end. One could argue that the middle order were far too slow with their run scoring, and the numbers do suggest it, but the Australian bowlers maintained a consistent line and did not give the batsman many freebies.

Warner brought up his hundred during the epic partnership, while Finch was on the verge of reaching the triple figure mark himself.

India has won 11 back-to-back matches against their opponents who were West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Australia under the Coach Ravi Shastri.

Rohit did not see the ball and trusted Kohli with his call but the Indian captain pulled back and returned to his crease.

File image of Virat Kohli and Indian cricket team. Handscomb made sure that the series got its first 300-plus score though, smashing 43 off 30 balls with three fours and a six. From that point of view, it wasn’t a great batting performance from us. Warner was awarded the man of the match for his blistering century. Commencing the journey with a remarkable victory, Indian team continued to defeat the rival team in each game till now and registered victories in 3 matches to win the series. “Umesh even picked up four wickets and it would have been a bit more than what he would have expected himself”.

And to make matters worse for India, Kohli lost his own wicket just eight balls later when he chopped a Nathan Coulter-Nile delivery onto his stumps.

India will play their final ODI against Australia in Nagpur on Sunday. But Australia have shown that they can match India toe to toe if they are playing at their best.