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Hardik was fabulous, says Smith

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Indore, Sep 24 (IANS) Australia skipper Steven Smith heaped praise on Hardik Pandya for his brilliant knock in the third One-Day International (ODI) which helped India to a five-wicket win and an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Pandya produced a power-packed knock lower down the order to carry the hosts to the cusp of victory. The Baroda all-rounder top scored for the hosts with 78 runs off 72 deliveries, hitting five boundaries and four sixes along the way.

“I thought we set it up beautifully with the bat to launch at the back end, but I thought the Indian bowlers executed really well and we executed poorly. We couldn’t get the boundaries. A total in excess of 330 might have been a different result, but credit to India. Hardik was magnificent and Rohit and Jinks (Rahane) were fabulous too,” Smith said.

The 28-year-old also praised Australia’s opening batsman Aaron Finch for his 124-run knock which helped the visitors post 293/6 in 50 overs after electing to bat first.

Finch, who missed the first two ODIs, registered his eighth ODI century and shared a 154-run second-wicket partnership with Smith (63 off 71 balls).

“I thought Finchy was magnificent, it was a great hundred. The pitch was pretty much the same for both teams until 35 overs, it did slow down towards the end. We weren’t good enough to get the boundaries and get the score we needed,” Smith said.

Australia, who have lost the ODI series 0-3, will take on India in the fourth match at Bengaluru on September 28.

–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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