VIDEO | Finch’s ‘timely’ review sends off in-form Kohli gifting Hazlewood his prized wicket

After winning the toss for the first time in several months, a jubilant Virat Kohli immediately opted to bat against Australia in the third ODI of the series. While they made four changes, nothing seemed more pronounced than Shubman Gill, at the top of the order, who made an immediate impact with his batting. While Dhawan gifted his wicket to Sean Abbott, Virat Kohli and Gill ensured that India kept the run-rate ticking, as India crossed the 80-run mark with relative ease. 

However, once spin was introduced into the scene - India’s hay-day in the sunshine was reduced to frost and darkness, with Gill’s audacious sweep seeing the back of him, as Ashton Agar sprung a new life into Australia’s bowling attack. Combined with Adam Zampa, the home team clawed their way back into the contest, reducing India to 123/4, leaving the responsibility once again on the shoulders of Virat Kohli, who had crossed yet another 50 away from home, crossing the 12,000 ODI run barrier. 

Right when Kohli looked to accelerate the innings, Aaron Finch reintroduced Kohli’s nemesis - Josh Hazlewood back into the attack. After bouncing Hardik Pandya, Hazlewood was back to his Test-match length for Kohli, which proved to be an instantaneous success. The first slower delivery caught the edge from Kohli, falling just ahead of Alex Carey, which seemed to be a sign of the things to come. The very next delivery despite a walking Kohli, the Australian seamer’s perfect length caught the edge of Kohli’s bat but the bowler wasn’t confident or convinced. 

While Carey went up, the umpire nodded it ‘not-out,’ which prompted the Australian skipper Aaron Finch to consider a possible review before he instantly took the review. In the end, Kohli had indeed edged the delivery, with a spike on the ultra-edge, which prompted celebrations in the Australian camp and a disappointed Kohli walking back to the hut. Hazlewood had his man for the fourth time in four ODIs and Kohli yet again couldn’t convert his start into a three-figure. 

Watch the video here :