Cricket News: India beat Australia by 13 runs to avoid whitewash

India beat Australia by 13 runs in the third and final ODI of three-match series in Canberra, thus avoiding a complete whitewash by the mighty Aussies. Winning the toss, India opted to bat first where after few early scalps, a 150-run alliance from Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja helped India to post a total of 302 runs on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, India skipper Virat Kohli became the fastest to reach 12000 runs in ODI cricket, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record. Kohli needed 23 runs to get to the landmark and he had no trouble reaching the milestone in his 251st ODI. In reply, India got the much-needed early wicket through debutant T Natarajan who removed stand-in opener Marnus Labuschagne for 7 as early as the 7th over. Australia were seemingly missing David Warner but it was the first time India struck in the powerplay. Shardul Thakur was the star of the ball for India as the pacer finished with figures of 51 for 3 in a match-winning spell. Thakur, who replaced Navdeep Saini, picked up the big wicket of Steve Smith for 7, ending the Australia star's hundred-hitting streak.