India win toss, bat in third Australia ODI
Australia handily won the opening two matches of the series in Sydney by 66 runs and 51 runs.
Canberra: India won the toss and chose to bat in the third and final one-day international against Australia at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday.
Australia, who have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, made three changes to their side with youngster Cameron Green making his debut, and fast bowler Sean Abbott and spinner Ashton Agar coming in.
David Warner is out with a groin injury that may have long-term implications for Australia’s summer against India and selectors decided to promote Marnus Labuschagne to open the innings with captain Aaron Finch.
Mitchell Starc is out with a back injury while fellow paceman Pat Cummins was rested.
“There’s no such thing as a dead rubber when you are playing for Australia and we will be doing everything we can to try and win the game,” Finch said.
India also made a number of changes. T Natarajan, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav come into the side with Mayank Agarwal, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal left out.
“It looks a nice wicket and the last time we played here it was a really good wicket to bat on,” India skipper Virat Kohli said.
“We want to bat well and put the opposition under pressure.” The last seven games in Canberra have all been won by the side batting first, six of them while defending 320-plus totals.
Australia handily won the opening two matches of the series in Sydney by 66 runs and 51 runs.
India have lost their last five ODIs for the first time since January 2016.
Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Ashton Agar, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli (capt), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, T Natarajan.
Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS) and Paul Wilson (AUS)
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
