Glenn Maxwell falls after 22-ball 60

NEW DELHI: Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals against India in the series-deciding seventh ODI in Bangalore on Saturday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Pacer Vinay Kumar provided India an important breakthrough when he dismissed dangerous Glenn Maxwell (60) in the 23rd over to reduce the visitors to 138/6 in 22.2 overs.

Maxwell was in his aggressive best as he smashed seven sixes and three fours in his whirlwind 22-ball knock. In the process, Maxwell equaled the record of fastest fifty by an Australian in 18 balls.

Maxwell also added valuable 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Adam Voges.

Voges (4) became the second victim of pacer Mohd Shami, who clean bowled the batsman in the 22nd over.

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin clean bowled Brad Haddin (40) to reduce Australia to 74/4 in 16.5 overs. Haddin, who hit seven fours, was leading the visitors' fightback before he missed the Ashwin delivery.

But the biggest blow for Aussies came in the previous over (16th) when they lost their big hitting in-form skipper George Bailey (4). Bailey was run out after a mixed-up with Haddin.

Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost Phillip Hughes (23) and Aaron Finch (5) early against India.

Ashwin dismissed Hughes in the thirteenth over to reduce Australia to 64/2 in 12.1 overs, after the southpaw added 57 runs with Haddin to lead the visitors' fightback.

Pacer Mohd Shami gave the hosts early breakthrough, when he got rid of Finch in the second over.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma blasted his way into the record books with a breathtaking 209 that included a record 16 sixes which propelled India to a mammoth 383 for six.

The immensely talented Sharma thus became only third batsman in the history of ODI cricket after Virender Sehwag (219) and Sachin Tendulkar (200 n.o.) to reach the coveted double ton.

Enroute his 158-ball-209, Rohit created a world record by hitting as many as 16 sixes along with 12 fours. His 16 sixes bettered Shane Watson's effort of 15 sixes against Bangladesh in an ODI match.

This was also the highest individual ODI score by any batsman against Australia in ODIs as well as being India's highest team total against the visitors. The last five overs produced an unbelievable 101 runs.

While Rohit scored his first 100 off 114 balls, the next hundred came off only 42 deliveries. All the sixes were clean straight hits in the arc between deep extra-cover and deep mid-wicket. There was minimum muscle and maximum timing in each and every six that he hit.

Put into bat by the Australian skipper George Bailey, the home team rode on Rohit's brilliant batting display which was complemented by his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (60) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who batted in his customary style smacking a 38-ball-62 with seven fours and two sixes.

Rohit and Dhoni added a staggering 167 runs for the fifth wicket in only 15.4 overs at an average of 10.65 while the opening partnership again proved to be productive yielding 112 runs.

The men who missed out included Virat Kohli (0) and the two horribly out-of-form players Yuvraj Singh (12) and Suresh Raina (28).

While another in-form batsman Kohli was run-out for duck without scoring and looked angry, the Delhi star was the most vocal in his applause when Rohit reached his individual milestones.

Having got a second wind after being promoted as an opener, Rohit also completed 1000 runs in ODIs this year at a very impressive average of 50 plus.

This is Rohit's third big score in the current apart from his match-winning 141 at Jaipur and 79 in the last game at Nagpur.

Most sixes in an innings
Player	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	Strike Rate	Opposition	Ground
RG Sharma	209	158	12	16	132.27	Australia	Bangalore
SR Watson	185*	96	15	15	192.70	Bangladesh	Dhaka
XM Marshall	157*	118	11	12	133.05	Canada	King City (NW)
ST Jayasuriya	134	65	11	11	206.15	Pakistan	Singapore
Shahid Afridi	102	40	6	11	255.00	Sri Lanka	Nairobi (Gym)
MS Dhoni	183*	145	15	10	126.20	Sri Lanka	Jaipur
MV Boucher	147*	68	8	10	216.17	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom
ML Hayden	181*	166	11	10	109.03	New Zealand	Hamilton
BB McCullum	166	135	12	10	122.96	Ireland	Aberdeen
Abdul Razzaq	109*	72	7	10	151.38	South Africa	Abu Dhabi

With the current ODI rules of having five fielders inside the circle at any point of time has proved to be a draconian one for the bowlers who have been taken to the cleaners.

All the frontline Australian bowlers got a hammering with Clint McKay (1-89 in 10 overs) ending up with worst figures.

Nathan Coultier-Nile (0-80 in 10 overs), James Faulkner (1-75 in 10 overs) and Xavier Doherty (2-74 in 10 overs) were smoked to all parts of the ground by Rohit and Dhoni.

Rohit ultimately fell to Mckay when he was caught by substitute Moises Henriques, who had come in to field for Shane Watson who suffered from an hamstring injury.

Rohit-Dhawan brought up the third century opening stand for India in this series after he rocked back and cut Glenn Maxwell to deep extra cover fence. This was also their sixth century stand this year and became the only pair to do so in a calendar year.

They were also involved in match-winning 176 and 178 runs opening partnership in Jaipur and Nagpur one-dayers, respectively.

Dhawan was lucky to have survived on 41 when Watson missed a run-out chance at backward point after he threw the ball wide, giving ample time for the Delhi lad to get back into the crease.

Doherty did the damage for the visitors, scalping two important wickets of Dhawan and Suresh Raina, and pegged India back to some extent after the roaring start given by the openers.

Kohli, who needed 81 runs to beat Vivian Richards' record of being the fastest batsman to reach 5000-run mark in one-dayers, was unfortunately run out. Raina and Yuvaraj fell to Doherty and James Faulkner in quick succession but Rohit and Dhoni more than made up for their failures.

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Ashwin double-strike jolts Oz run chase

NEW DELHI: Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals against India in the series-deciding seventh ODI in Bangalore on Saturday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin clean bowled Brad Haddin (40) to reduce Australia to 74/4 in 16.5 overs. Haddin, who hit seven fours, was leading the visitors' fightback before he missed the Ashwin delivery.

But the biggest blow for Aussies came in the previous over (16th) when they lost their big hitting in-form skipper George Bailey (4). Bailey was run out after a mixed-up with Haddin.

Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost Phillip Hughes (23) and Aaron Finch (5) early against India.

Ashwin dismissed Hughes in the thirteenth over to reduce Australia to 64/2 in 12.1 overs, after the southpaw added 57 runs with Haddin to lead the visitors' fightback.

Pacer Mohd Shami gave the hosts early breakthrough, when he got rid of Finch in the second over.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma blasted his way into the record books with a breathtaking 209 that included a record 16 sixes which propelled India to a mammoth 383 for six.

The immensely talented Sharma thus became only third batsman in the history of ODI cricket after Virender Sehwag (219) and Sachin Tendulkar (200 n.o.) to reach the coveted double ton.

Enroute his 158-ball-209, Rohit created a world record by hitting as many as 16 sixes along with 12 fours. His 16 sixes bettered Shane Watson's effort of 15 sixes against Bangladesh in an ODI match.

This was also the highest individual ODI score by any batsman against Australia in ODIs as well as being India's highest team total against the visitors. The last five overs produced an unbelievable 101 runs.

While Rohit scored his first 100 off 114 balls, the next hundred came off only 42 deliveries. All the sixes were clean straight hits in the arc between deep extra-cover and deep mid-wicket. There was minimum muscle and maximum timing in each and every six that he hit.

Put into bat by the Australian skipper George Bailey, the home team rode on Rohit's brilliant batting display which was complemented by his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (60) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who batted in his customary style smacking a 38-ball-62 with seven fours and two sixes.

Rohit and Dhoni added a staggering 167 runs for the fifth wicket in only 15.4 overs at an average of 10.65 while the opening partnership again proved to be productive yielding 112 runs.

The men who missed out included Virat Kohli (0) and the two horribly out-of-form players Yuvraj Singh (12) and Suresh Raina (28).

While another in-form batsman Kohli was run-out for duck without scoring and looked angry, the Delhi star was the most vocal in his applause when Rohit reached his individual milestones.

Having got a second wind after being promoted as an opener, Rohit also completed 1000 runs in ODIs this year at a very impressive average of 50 plus.

This is Rohit's third big score in the current apart from his match-winning 141 at Jaipur and 79 in the last game at Nagpur.

Most sixes in an innings
Player	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	Strike Rate	Opposition	Ground
RG Sharma	209	158	12	16	132.27	Australia	Bangalore
SR Watson	185*	96	15	15	192.70	Bangladesh	Dhaka
XM Marshall	157*	118	11	12	133.05	Canada	King City (NW)
ST Jayasuriya	134	65	11	11	206.15	Pakistan	Singapore
Shahid Afridi	102	40	6	11	255.00	Sri Lanka	Nairobi (Gym)
MS Dhoni	183*	145	15	10	126.20	Sri Lanka	Jaipur
MV Boucher	147*	68	8	10	216.17	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom
ML Hayden	181*	166	11	10	109.03	New Zealand	Hamilton
BB McCullum	166	135	12	10	122.96	Ireland	Aberdeen
Abdul Razzaq	109*	72	7	10	151.38	South Africa	Abu Dhabi

With the current ODI rules of having five fielders inside the circle at any point of time has proved to be a draconian one for the bowlers who have been taken to the cleaners.

All the frontline Australian bowlers got a hammering with Clint McKay (1-89 in 10 overs) ending up with worst figures.

Nathan Coultier-Nile (0-80 in 10 overs), James Faulkner (1-75 in 10 overs) and Xavier Doherty (2-74 in 10 overs) were smoked to all parts of the ground by Rohit and Dhoni.

Rohit ultimately fell to Mckay when he was caught by substitute Moises Henriques, who had come in to field for Shane Watson who suffered from an hamstring injury.

Rohit-Dhawan brought up the third century opening stand for India in this series after he rocked back and cut Glenn Maxwell to deep extra cover fence. This was also their sixth century stand this year and became the only pair to do so in a calendar year.

They were also involved in match-winning 176 and 178 runs opening partnership in Jaipur and Nagpur one-dayers, respectively.

Dhawan was lucky to have survived on 41 when Watson missed a run-out chance at backward point after he threw the ball wide, giving ample time for the Delhi lad to get back into the crease.

Doherty did the damage for the visitors, scalping two important wickets of Dhawan and Suresh Raina, and pegged India back to some extent after the roaring start given by the openers.

Kohli, who needed 81 runs to beat Vivian Richards' record of being the fastest batsman to reach 5000-run mark in one-dayers, was unfortunately run out. Raina and Yuvaraj fell to Doherty and James Faulkner in quick succession but Rohit and Dhoni more than made up for their failures.

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Webber beats Vettel to Abu Dhabi pole

ABU DHABI: Australian Mark Webber put Red Bull on pole position for the floodlit Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday in a front row sweep with quadruple world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Mercedes filled the second row at the Yas Marina circuit, with Germany's Nico Rosberg qualifying third and Britain's 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth despite spinning off on his final lap.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, currently second overall, had a miserable evening and will start 11th - the first time this season the Spaniard has failed to qualify in the top 10.

Both titles were wrapped up by Vettel and Red Bull with three races to spare at last weekend's Indian Grand Prix.

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Jadeja dismisses Watson as Oz stumble

NEW DELHI: Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals against India in the series-deciding seventh ODI in Bangalore on Saturday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Shane Watson, who was blazing all guns, to virtually end Australia's chance in the match. Watson smacked six sixes and two boundaries in his quick-fire 22-ball 49 and added rapid 67 runs with James Faulkner for the seventh wicket.

Pacer Vinay Kumar provided India an important breakthrough when he dismissed dangerous Glenn Maxwell (60) in the 23rd over to reduce the visitors to 138/6 in 22.2 overs.

Maxwell was in his aggressive best as he smashed seven sixes and three fours in his whirlwind 22-ball knock. In the process, Maxwell equaled the record of fastest fifty by an Australian in 18 balls.

Maxwell also added valuable 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Adam Voges.

Voges (4) became the second victim of pacer Mohd Shami, who clean bowled the batsman in the 22nd over.

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin clean bowled Brad Haddin (40) to reduce Australia to 74/4 in 16.5 overs. Haddin, who hit seven fours, was leading the visitors' fightback before he missed the Ashwin delivery.

But the biggest blow for Aussies came in the previous over (16th) when they lost their big hitting in-form skipper George Bailey (4). Bailey was run out after a mixed-up with Haddin.

Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost Phillip Hughes (23) and Aaron Finch (5) early against India.

Ashwin dismissed Hughes in the thirteenth over to reduce Australia to 64/2 in 12.1 overs, after the southpaw added 57 runs with Haddin to lead the visitors' fightback.

Pacer Mohd Shami gave the hosts early breakthrough, when he got rid of Finch in the second over.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma blasted his way into the record books with a breathtaking 209 that included a record 16 sixes which propelled India to a mammoth 383 for six.

The immensely talented Sharma thus became only third batsman in the history of ODI cricket after Virender Sehwag (219) and Sachin Tendulkar (200 n.o.) to reach the coveted double ton.

Enroute his 158-ball-209, Rohit created a world record by hitting as many as 16 sixes along with 12 fours. His 16 sixes bettered Shane Watson's effort of 15 sixes against Bangladesh in an ODI match.

This was also the highest individual ODI score by any batsman against Australia in ODIs as well as being India's highest team total against the visitors. The last five overs produced an unbelievable 101 runs.

While Rohit scored his first 100 off 114 balls, the next hundred came off only 42 deliveries. All the sixes were clean straight hits in the arc between deep extra-cover and deep mid-wicket. There was minimum muscle and maximum timing in each and every six that he hit.

Put into bat by the Australian skipper George Bailey, the home team rode on Rohit's brilliant batting display which was complemented by his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (60) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who batted in his customary style smacking a 38-ball-62 with seven fours and two sixes.

Rohit and Dhoni added a staggering 167 runs for the fifth wicket in only 15.4 overs at an average of 10.65 while the opening partnership again proved to be productive yielding 112 runs.

The men who missed out included Virat Kohli (0) and the two horribly out-of-form players Yuvraj Singh (12) and Suresh Raina (28).

While another in-form batsman Kohli was run-out for duck without scoring and looked angry, the Delhi star was the most vocal in his applause when Rohit reached his individual milestones.

Having got a second wind after being promoted as an opener, Rohit also completed 1000 runs in ODIs this year at a very impressive average of 50 plus.

This is Rohit's third big score in the current apart from his match-winning 141 at Jaipur and 79 in the last game at Nagpur.

Most sixes in an innings
Player	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	Strike Rate	Opposition	Ground
RG Sharma	209	158	12	16	132.27	Australia	Bangalore
SR Watson	185*	96	15	15	192.70	Bangladesh	Dhaka
XM Marshall	157*	118	11	12	133.05	Canada	King City (NW)
ST Jayasuriya	134	65	11	11	206.15	Pakistan	Singapore
Shahid Afridi	102	40	6	11	255.00	Sri Lanka	Nairobi (Gym)
MS Dhoni	183*	145	15	10	126.20	Sri Lanka	Jaipur
MV Boucher	147*	68	8	10	216.17	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom
ML Hayden	181*	166	11	10	109.03	New Zealand	Hamilton
BB McCullum	166	135	12	10	122.96	Ireland	Aberdeen
Abdul Razzaq	109*	72	7	10	151.38	South Africa	Abu Dhabi

With the current ODI rules of having five fielders inside the circle at any point of time has proved to be a draconian one for the bowlers who have been taken to the cleaners.

All the frontline Australian bowlers got a hammering with Clint McKay (1-89 in 10 overs) ending up with worst figures.

Nathan Coultier-Nile (0-80 in 10 overs), James Faulkner (1-75 in 10 overs) and Xavier Doherty (2-74 in 10 overs) were smoked to all parts of the ground by Rohit and Dhoni.

Rohit ultimately fell to Mckay when he was caught by substitute Moises Henriques, who had come in to field for Shane Watson who suffered from an hamstring injury.

Rohit-Dhawan brought up the third century opening stand for India in this series after he rocked back and cut Glenn Maxwell to deep extra cover fence. This was also their sixth century stand this year and became the only pair to do so in a calendar year.

They were also involved in match-winning 176 and 178 runs opening partnership in Jaipur and Nagpur one-dayers, respectively.

Dhawan was lucky to have survived on 41 when Watson missed a run-out chance at backward point after he threw the ball wide, giving ample time for the Delhi lad to get back into the crease.

Doherty did the damage for the visitors, scalping two important wickets of Dhawan and Suresh Raina, and pegged India back to some extent after the roaring start given by the openers.

Kohli, who needed 81 runs to beat Vivian Richards' record of being the fastest batsman to reach 5000-run mark in one-dayers, was unfortunately run out. Raina and Yuvaraj fell to Doherty and James Faulkner in quick succession but Rohit and Dhoni more than made up for their failures.

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James Faulkner slams 57-ball ton

NEW DELHI: James Faulkner kept Aussies hopes alive with some fiery shots as he added quick hundred-run stand for the ninth wicket with Clint McKay against India in the series-deciding seventh ODI in Bangalore on Saturday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Faulkner raced to his maiden ODI hundred off just 57 balls - fastest by an Australian batsman - as he hoick five sixes and eleven boundaries.

Chasing a massive 384-run target, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals.

Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Shane Watson, who was blazing all guns, to virtually end Australia's chance in the match. Watson smacked six sixes and two boundaries in his quick-fire 22-ball 49 and added rapid 67 runs with James Faulkner for the seventh wicket.

Pacer Vinay Kumar provided India an important breakthrough when he dismissed dangerous Glenn Maxwell (60) in the 23rd over to reduce the visitors to 138/6 in 22.2 overs.

Maxwell was in his aggressive best as he smashed seven sixes and three fours in his whirlwind 22-ball knock. In the process, Maxwell equaled the record of fastest fifty by an Australian in 18 balls.

Maxwell also added valuable 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Adam Voges.

Voges (4) became the second victim of pacer Mohd Shami, who clean bowled the batsman in the 22nd over.

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin clean bowled Brad Haddin (40) to reduce Australia to 74/4 in 16.5 overs. Haddin, who hit seven fours, was leading the visitors' fightback before he missed the Ashwin delivery.

But the biggest blow for Aussies came in the previous over (16th) when they lost their big hitting in-form skipper George Bailey (4). Bailey was run out after a mixed-up with Haddin.

Australia lost Phillip Hughes (23) and Aaron Finch (5) early against India.

Ashwin dismissed Hughes in the thirteenth over to reduce Australia to 64/2 in 12.1 overs, after the southpaw added 57 runs with Haddin to lead the visitors' fightback.

Pacer Mohd Shami gave the hosts early breakthrough, when he got rid of Finch in the second over.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma blasted his way into the record books with a breathtaking 209 that included a record 16 sixes which propelled India to a mammoth 383 for six.

The immensely talented Sharma thus became only third batsman in the history of ODI cricket after Virender Sehwag (219) and Sachin Tendulkar (200 n.o.) to reach the coveted double ton.

Enroute his 158-ball-209, Rohit created a world record by hitting as many as 16 sixes along with 12 fours. His 16 sixes bettered Shane Watson's effort of 15 sixes against Bangladesh in an ODI match.

This was also the highest individual ODI score by any batsman against Australia in ODIs as well as being India's highest team total against the visitors. The last five overs produced an unbelievable 101 runs.

While Rohit scored his first 100 off 114 balls, the next hundred came off only 42 deliveries. All the sixes were clean straight hits in the arc between deep extra-cover and deep mid-wicket. There was minimum muscle and maximum timing in each and every six that he hit.

Put into bat by the Australian skipper George Bailey, the home team rode on Rohit's brilliant batting display which was complemented by his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (60) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who batted in his customary style smacking a 38-ball-62 with seven fours and two sixes.

Rohit and Dhoni added a staggering 167 runs for the fifth wicket in only 15.4 overs at an average of 10.65 while the opening partnership again proved to be productive yielding 112 runs.

The men who missed out included Virat Kohli (0) and the two horribly out-of-form players Yuvraj Singh (12) and Suresh Raina (28).

While another in-form batsman Kohli was run-out for duck without scoring and looked angry, the Delhi star was the most vocal in his applause when Rohit reached his individual milestones.

Having got a second wind after being promoted as an opener, Rohit also completed 1000 runs in ODIs this year at a very impressive average of 50 plus.

This is Rohit's third big score in the current apart from his match-winning 141 at Jaipur and 79 in the last game at Nagpur.

Most sixes in an innings
Player	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	Strike Rate	Opposition	Ground
RG Sharma	209	158	12	16	132.27	Australia	Bangalore
SR Watson	185*	96	15	15	192.70	Bangladesh	Dhaka
XM Marshall	157*	118	11	12	133.05	Canada	King City (NW)
ST Jayasuriya	134	65	11	11	206.15	Pakistan	Singapore
Shahid Afridi	102	40	6	11	255.00	Sri Lanka	Nairobi (Gym)
MS Dhoni	183*	145	15	10	126.20	Sri Lanka	Jaipur
MV Boucher	147*	68	8	10	216.17	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom
ML Hayden	181*	166	11	10	109.03	New Zealand	Hamilton
BB McCullum	166	135	12	10	122.96	Ireland	Aberdeen
Abdul Razzaq	109*	72	7	10	151.38	South Africa	Abu Dhabi

With the current ODI rules of having five fielders inside the circle at any point of time has proved to be a draconian one for the bowlers who have been taken to the cleaners.

All the frontline Australian bowlers got a hammering with Clint McKay (1-89 in 10 overs) ending up with worst figures.

Nathan Coultier-Nile (0-80 in 10 overs), James Faulkner (1-75 in 10 overs) and Xavier Doherty (2-74 in 10 overs) were smoked to all parts of the ground by Rohit and Dhoni.

Rohit ultimately fell to Mckay when he was caught by substitute Moises Henriques, who had come in to field for Shane Watson who suffered from an hamstring injury.

Rohit-Dhawan brought up the third century opening stand for India in this series after he rocked back and cut Glenn Maxwell to deep extra cover fence. This was also their sixth century stand this year and became the only pair to do so in a calendar year.

They were also involved in match-winning 176 and 178 runs opening partnership in Jaipur and Nagpur one-dayers, respectively.

Dhawan was lucky to have survived on 41 when Watson missed a run-out chance at backward point after he threw the ball wide, giving ample time for the Delhi lad to get back into the crease.

Doherty did the damage for the visitors, scalping two important wickets of Dhawan and Suresh Raina, and pegged India back to some extent after the roaring start given by the openers.

Kohli, who needed 81 runs to beat Vivian Richards' record of being the fastest batsman to reach 5000-run mark in one-dayers, was unfortunately run out. Raina and Yuvaraj fell to Doherty and James Faulkner in quick succession but Rohit and Dhoni more than made up for their failures.

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'Bowlers face difficulty due to new rule'

BANGALORE: Indian batsman Virat Kohli on Friday said the new ODI rule, which enforces an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle at all times, should be looked into as it is working against the bowlers.

"In batting-friendly conditions, it is very hard for the captain to contain runs and has been difficult for the bowlers. Hence, the rule should be be looked into as far as keeping five fielders (inside the circle) is concerned," Kohli told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

"It is ICC's decision to give us the rule. So I can't comment more," he added.

With this new rule in place, India and Australia together have scored a phenomenal 2,565 runs from four ODIs so far, excluding the 295 the visiting team scored in the abandoned one-dayer in Ranchi.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also had commented that a few Indian bowlers felt it would be better to put a bowling machine in the field instead of they rolling their arms in the ongoing ODI series, after they were being hit all over the park by Australia.

Kohli said the rule of five fielders inside the circle puts part-time bowlers, who were big weapons in ODIs before, out of contention.

"Yuvraj Singh bowled so well for us in so many games with four fielders inside the circle. Now, none of the teams can use part-time bowlers properly because of the fifth fielder. In conditions, which are batting-friendly, it is very hard for the captain to contain those runs," the Indian vice captain explained.

Asked about the morale of the bowlers after being hit for big scores, Kohli said it was necessary for bowlers to have confidence otherwise team's winning momentum goes for a toss.

"If bowlers don't have the confidence, it will be difficult for the captain to contain runs. Bowlers did face difficulty in this series due to the new rule. We have no choice but to play according to the rule," he said.

More often than not, Kohli said "it is bowlers who win the games for the team".

"Whichever team bowled well, has won the game, though they were tight," he added.

Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said the teams would get used to the new rule in the due course of time and would slowly get a hang of what is a good score.

"The more you play (with the new rules) you will get more trends and patterns to see what is a good target," said Haddin.

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All hopes on batsmen in series decider

BANGALORE: India will yet again rely on their batting firepower as they seek to clinch the one-day series against an equally-determined Australia when the two teams clash in the seventh and final match on Saturday in what promises to be another high-scoring thriller.

After two successive washouts in Ranchi and Cuttak, India rebounded to level the series 2-2 in Nagpur with yet another superlative show by their batsmen, who chased down a mammoth 351-run target.

The incredible run chase brought back memories of India's magnificent victory in Jaipur when they chased a stiff target of 360, achieving the second highest successful run chase ever in ODI history.

The bowlers of both the sides are under tremendous pressure on flat batting tracks as despite the two washouts, more than 2500 runs have been scored so far.

Even the score of 350 cannot be considered a cushion and Saturday's match is also likely to be another high-scoring tussle with the wicket at M Chinnaswamy stadium traditionally being a batting-friendly wicket.

The Indians, however, will find the going a little easier on the morrow as Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson will sit out of the match as he is returning home to prepare for the Ashes.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be hoping that his young teammates can maintain the tempo to turn the tables on the Australians who have won two seven-game series in the past against the hosts.

Among the batsmen, Virat Kohli and opener Shikhar Dhawan are the top-scorers for the hosts as they have batted brilliantly. Dhoni himself has been a solid batsman in the middle-order.

Opener Rohit Sharma has also been instrumental in India's good fight with his partnerships with Dhawan and the hosts would look forward to the openers to provide yet again a solid start.

Dhoni himself will be looking to repeat the Mohali performance where he scored a brilliant century to help India recover and post a challenging 300-plus total even as that was chased successfully by the visitors.

The worry for India is the middle-order where Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh are yet to come up with an innings of substance in this series and on Saturday is time for the two to make up for the earlier failures.

They have struggled against the pace and bounce extracted by Australian bowlers, especially Mitchell Johnson. Dhoni has the option of bringing in Ambati Rayadu but the Indian think tank may not want to tinker with the combination.

On the bowling front, the Indian bowlers' economy rate has gone for a toss in the batting-friendly conditions. Off-spinner R Ashwin, who grabbed 29 wickets in the four-Test series against Australia in February-March, has taken some heavy punishment from the in-form Australian batsmen, especially by skipper George Bailey.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who played his first game at Nagpur, gave away 78 runs in 10 overs without taking a wicket.

India's pace battery, consisting of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat and R Vinay Kumar, has also been expensive and failed to stem the flow of runs.

Dhoni has the option of using part-timers like Yuvraj Singh and Raina to bowl middle overs, but the field restrictions under the new ODI rules have made it difficult for him to toss the bowl to them.

It remains to be seen whether Ishant Sharma will be given another chance to redeem his poor display in the series as he was hammered for 30 in the 'death' over at Mohali.

Australia too have enjoyed a splendid batting effort. Bailey has tormented the Indians as he is the top run-getter in the series, while dangerman Shane Watson came out all blazing guns by scoring a century in the last match.

Australian batsmen have taken Indian bowlers to the cleaners and managed to restrict them to make early inroads. Bailey reckons his team has enough quality to clinch the series third time in a row.

The visitors, like India, have plenty to worry about with their bowling department not living upto expectation. Nevertheless, their speedsters have exposed some chinks with their short-ball attack.

The Australian bowlers, like the hosts, have struggled to contain the Indian batsmen.

It will come down to bowlers' making less mistakes and whichever team does that better, will have a better chance to walk away with the series victory.

The series-win will boost the Australians ahead of the home Ashes series against England, starting later this month.

Teams (from):

India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Shami.

Australia: George Bailey (Capt.), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Moises Henriques, Phil Hughes, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges and Shane Watson.

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Anirban Lahiri eyes win at Indian Open

NEW DELHI: Anirban Lahiri has his eyes trained on the 50th Indian Open, starting November 7 at the Delhi Golf Club - a course where he has enjoyed huge success.

The tree-lined and narrow DGC is rated as one of the most difficult golf courses on the Asian Tour but Lahiri has enjoyed great outings winning three Asian Tour titles.

"A lot of the players fear DGC, it's probably one of the feared courses on Tour. I'm comfortable at the Delhi Golf Club. For me, the Indian Open has been good, moving from one favourite venue to another. I'm looking forward to a win," said Lahiri.

Lahiri said that winning his National Open remains as one of his top priorities in his golfing career. He has enjoyed some measure of success in the Indian Open in the past, finishing tied third, 15th and fifth in 2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

"It's going to be a historic event. Everyone mention it's such an important event for the Indians, there is so much history and tradition behind it. It's like a major for all of us. I know Jeev (Milkha Singh) even he wants to win the Indian Open before he retires.

"That's what it means to someone like Jeev who has won so many events around the world. Being the 50th year, it's going to be special. It's one of the longest running in Asia and one of our biggest," said the 26-year-old Lahiri.

He said the Indian Open has played a huge part in launching the careers of many Indian golfers including three-time winner Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, who is the first Indian to win on the PGA Tour and C Muniyappa.

"It would be very special if I can win it. When I was playing junior golf, everyone wanted to turn amateur very quickly as the top amateurs get to play in the Indian Open. It's a very special event even to play as an amateur. We tried our heart out as an amateur just to play and to win it would be absolutely fantastic," he said.

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Kohli hints at chasing target in decider

BANGALORE: Virat Kohli has indicated that India would prefer chasing rather than setting a target if the home side wins the toss in Saturday's series-decider cricket one-dayer against Australia.

"Personally I feel good to chase because you know the target to meet. (We) can plan better and analyse how to play in different situations. I (also) feel good to calculate and play, which bowler to target and which ball to hit," he told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

"While batting first, we need to assess the batting conditions and big partnerships are important to score high. Whether batting first or second, partnership is very crucial for the team. We need to be in strong position," he added.

The seven-match series is now levelled 2-2 after the Ranchi and Cuttack ODIs were washed out and India's both wins have come while batting second, with the home side recording the second and third highest ever successful run chases in ODI history.

Kohli said the series has turned out to be a thrilling contest between the two teams, especially the way India have fought back from difficult situations.

"Personally, my form has been pleasing for me so far. Hopefully, I can do it once again in the last game," he said.

"We need to execute our plans to win the series, which has been a hard-fought battle so far."

He said the home team has no fitness issues and all the players are fit to play tomorrow's match.

When told that he is being seen as someone who can break some of Sachin Tendulkar's ODI records, Kohli said, "I used to dream of doing what Sachin did single-handedly against Pakistan in 1998 in Sharjah.

"But now we have so many talented batsmen like Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who have given great starts. They have been brilliant at the top and have given me a good platform to go and express myself. The credit has to go to everyone in the team," he said.

Kohli has been the most consistent Indian batsman in the series so far having hit two of the three fastest hundreds (off 52 and 61 balls respectively) by an Indian in the second and sixth ODIs but he said winning is more important than personal records.

"It has been good so far. I never expected get a 100 in 50 plus balls and another 100 in 60 balls," he said.

"Winning is the best drug one can have and winning is more important than records. A win tomorrow will give us a lot of confidence for the two Tests against the West Indies. We will do our best to give a winning farewell to Sachin," he added.

Asked how much does technique help him to smash quality bowlers, Kohli said, "I keep working on that in practice sessions. It gives me a lot of confidence practising on my technique."

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FIR against Srinivasan and Gurunath

JAIPUR: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's legal counsel Mahmood Abdi on Friday lodged an FIR against BCCI president N Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan at a local police station charging them of fixing an IPL 6 match between CSK and Rajasthan Royals held on May 12.

Abdi, who is also the president of Sriganganagar District Cricket Association, lodged an FIR at the Jyoti Nagar Police Station.

Abdi filed a complaint in a local court on October 26 and 28 October. The court of the additional Chief judicial magistrate-8 issued directions to Jaipur police to investigate into the allegations.

In compliance with the directions of the court, Jyoti Nagar police station registered an FIR on Friday in the matter.

He claimed that in accord with the directions of the Honourable court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate - Satish Chandra Godara, an FIR has been registered to investigate into the allegations of match fixing by the BCCI president and managing director of India Cements Ltd, N Srinivasan and his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan.

In his complaint, Abdi alleged that Srinivasan and Meiyappan had used their substantial influence to ensure that CSK underperform, in order for the accused to gain financial benefits through illegal match-related betting activities.

He further alleged that pre-match rumours suggested that Chennai Super Kings would deliberately underperform and score around 130 to 140 runs to ensure a Rajasthan Royals victory.

CSK scored 141 and the Royals chased down the target in 17 overs.

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