Rohit Sharma scored a century and Virat Kohli made 74 as India defeated Australia by nine wickets in the third ODI in Sydney, likely the pair's last matches in Australia for India. Australia had already secured the series with wins in Perth and Adelaide, but India's bowlers dismissed the hosts for 236 before the two former captains shared a 168-run partnership to seal victory.
Rohit, who hit 13 fours and three sixes in his 33rd ODI century, said: 'I've always loved coming here … a nice way to finish getting that knock and getting that win as well. I don't know if we'll be coming back to Australia, but it was fun all these years that we played here.' Kohli, who had scored ducks in the previous two matches, brought up his 75th ODI half-century to a huge roar from the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat, a decision that had led to victory in the last nine ODIs at the venue. However, only Matt Renshaw (56) managed a half-century, while Harshit Rana took four for 39 to wrap up the tail. India's chase began with a 69-run opening stand between Rohit and Shubman Gill (24) before Kohli joined Rohit to guide the team home with more than six overs to spare.
Rohit was dropped on 108 by Josh Hazlewood and finished 121 not out, while Kohli hit the winning runs. The partnership was the 19th ODI century stand between the pair. Kohli said: 'When we bat together … even back in the day, we used to think, if we have a big partnership, the kind of strokes we can play, we can really take the game away from the opposition.'
