Aus vs Ind: Australia win toss and opt to bat first in third ODI

SYDENY: Australia won the toss and decided to bat against India in the third One Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Mitchell Marsh seized the moment to post a total in the third ODI against India at the SCG following the visitors’ 18th consecutive toss loss in the format as Australia chase a 3-0 series whitewash.

Australia held off the urge to give their all-format pacers a break with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood preparing for the second match in three days.

Starc has quit playing T20Is, so will not be included in the series to follow, but Hazlewood is included for matches at Canberra and Melbourne.

They brought one alteration to their XI by replacing Xavier Bartlett with Nathan Ellis, who was brilliant in Adelaide taking three wickets, including Virat Kohli for a duck.

India brought in two changes: left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav, who finally got a game, and Prasidh Krishna replacing Arshdeep Singh, who was among many Indian players to suffer cramp during the Adelaide match.

Allrounder Nitish Reddy missed out because of a left quadriceps injury picked up during the second ODI.

Australia XI:

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Travis Head, Matthew Short,  Matthew Renshaw,  Alex Carey (wk),  Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen,  Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis,  Adam Zampa,  Josh Hazlewood

India XI:

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma,  Virat Kohli,  Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel,  KL Rahul (wkt),  Washington Sundar,  Harshit Rana,  Kuldeep Yadav,  Prasidh Krishna,  Mohammed Siraj