Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Geoff Lemon (now) & Adam Collins (earlier)

India beat Australia to win series: third one-day international – as it happened

Adam Zampa attempts to run out MS Dhoni
Adam Zampa attempts to run out MS Dhoni during the final ODI at the MCG. Photograph: Mark Dadswell/EPA

India win the three-match series 1-2

The same scoreline as the Tests, in the end, as India make this an unbeaten tour across all three formats. This final match more than the previous two exposed the limitations of this Australian team, and while the bowlers battled hard, India’s batsmen always looked in control. The match only went as long as it did because that’s how MS Dhoni likes to play, but it could have been over much earlier if he’d had half a mind.

Dhoni now averages 103.07 in winning run chases. Not out 46 times out of 73 in which he’s batted. He’s literally been there at the end two thirds of the time. He’s more reliable than most of our parents. Another 87 not out tonight, and could have gunned for a hundred if he’d wanted to attack more earlier, but it’s not his way.

But it’s not just about the batting. Yuzvendra Chahal sat on the bench for the entire tour to date, got called up for the very last match, and promptly took 6-42 from his 10 overs. He got rid of each set middle-order batsman and was the reason Australia was restricted to 230.

He’s an unlikely looking athlete: slender, bespectacled, quietly spoken. But leg-spinners remain the great mystery of cricket, and Australia couldn’t unpick his. India can be pretty confident ahead of the World Cup: they have a raft of bowling options, and most spots in the XI bar a couple of batting positions are decided. Dhoni has surely answered the biggest of those questions in this series.

Dhoni is chatting to Brendon Julian at the post-match presentation. “I’m happy to bat any number. The important thing is where the team needs me. After 14 years I can’t really say, ‘I can’t bat at six, I must bat at four or five.’”

Now Kohli: “It wasn’t that easy a wicket to bat on, so we had to take it deep. Kuldeep we wanted to give him a little break, and he’d played two games so we don’t want to be too predictable. We’ve been here for a long time, it’s been an amazing tour for us. We drew the T20 series, won the Test series, won the ODI series. If someone had offered me those results I would have grabbed them with both hands.”

The team comes up to take the mirrored pointy trophy. I had a close-up look at that one in Sydney, it’s dangerous. Can’t take it on a plane, I’m sure.

The whole blue-clad outfit gets up on the podium and poses for their photos, and now they’ll wander over to the boundary line to applaud the massed Indian fans who are waving flags and cheering. Great turnout tonight, great atmosphere.

Australia have more questions than answers out of tonight, but I’ll write on those overnight and put up a proper article for you in the morning, Australian time.

For now, it’s farewell from the Australian end of the OBO – for all of six days, until we start up against another blue-clad subcontinental team in Brisbane, where Sri Lanka will start their brief Test tour. Plenty of interest for both teams, given Australia’s current weakness and Sri Lanka’s ability to punch above their weight at times last year away from home.

We’ll see you there.

Updated

India win with four balls to spare

49.2 overs: India 234-3 (Dhoni 87, Jadhav 61) The field is up, and stops the first shot, but next time Jadhav slots Stoinis over mid-on for four.

49th over: India 230-3 (Dhoni 87, Jadhav 57) Four in the ring on the off side for Siddle. Four on the fence on the leg side. I don’t know about this. Is the field set for the yorker? Maybe, and Siddle does hit one of them, but he misses a couple too. Jadhav belts one that pitches too short over cover for four, then backs well away so he can jam a low full toss in the same direction for three. Dhoni slams the second-last ball down the ground for four. That’s all but it, scores are level. And Dhoni has done what he loves: taken the match into the final over.

Half century! Jadhav 50 from 52 balls

48th over: India 217-3 (Dhoni 82, Jadhav 50) The drop from Finch costs Stoinis two runs from his first ball. A full toss down the leg side costs him four. Dross, and bossed, Dhoni flicking four. Last ball of the over is a fully as well, this one wide of off, and Jadhav carves it behind point for the same result.

The over is worth 13, and India need 14 from the last two. Easy.

Dropped! And nearly run out...

We’re seeing lots of frames. Dhoni pulls Richardson, hard, but straight at mid-off. Finch lets the catch burst through his fingers, and injures himself into the bargain. It was travelling at a rapid rate. He at least stopped it going for four, then the return nearly catches Jadhav at the non-striker’s end. Stoinis collects the ball and knocks the stumps with his forearm, legitimately, but after a million replays the third umpire determines that Jadhav was in by a fraction when the stumps lit up.

If we’d had the 1000fps camera on that call, it might have been different, but on one frame he was out of his ground with the stumps intact, and on the other he was in with them broken.

Updated

47th over: India 204-3 (Dhoni 74, Jadhav 46) Richardson the bowler Jadhav squats, digs a hole, squeezes one out. No, he’s not having a moment to himself in the forest, he’s defusing a yorker at ground level after initially shaping to sweep. Gets a run, the start of a picket fence sequence as they take one from each ball of the over. Jadhav nearly holes out off the fifth, sweeping again, but Maxwell sprinting in from deep midwicket sees the ball dip and drop short.

Crowd number is 53,603. Good for an ODI these days.

India need 27 in 18 balls.

46th over: India 198-3 (Dhoni 71, Jadhav 43) Siddle returns, and it does not work out. Two wides down leg, either side of a ball that Jadhav slams down the ground for four. Airborne and just to the left of mid-off, but there’s no catch. Two more from a yorker squeezed out behind square leg, and Jadhav hits Siddle from behind as the batsman runs back for the second. A couple of singles follow.

The over costs 11. A target of 44 off 30 has become 33 off 24.

Lovely email in from Christopher MacLehose. “Coming to the end, one way or the other, of India in Australia, so just time to thank you and your brilliant colleagues for a vastly pleasurable coverage of the Tests too. Anent your reference to Sam Beckett in the last Test, as you might not know, he was at Lord’s one first day of a Test with John Calder his publisher and one other: glorious sunlit day, the outfield mown to perfection, the game on a knife-edge, one of his companions said: it makes you grateful to be alive. Beckett said: I wouldn’t go so far as that. Warm wishes from frozen France.”

45th over: India 187-3 (Dhoni 70, Jadhav 35) Single, single, then Dhoni blocks Stoinis. He’s faced 100 balls now – how many have been dots? Not the 101st, as Dhoni pulls it very fine, and Stanlake’s dive can only richochet it into a different part of the rope.

That was almost another three. CricViz analysts have confirmed my suspicion from earlier: this match has had the most threes of any ODI at the MCG since 1999.

I mean, my suspicion wasn’t that specific. I just thought there had been lots.

44th over: India 179-3 (Dhoni 64, Jadhav 33) Zampa. He’s been tidy. He’s looked decent. He’s conceded 33 runs from nine overs. But he hasn’t been a wicket-taking threat today. One more over until his day is complete, and Dhoni has decided to see him off. Forward defence, forward defence. The crowd jeers, or cheers? I think they’re enjoying the ridiculousness, as Dhoni blocks a third, a fourth, a fifth. Finally he helps a single round the corner.

One run from the 44th over of an ODI. Absurd.

Zampa ends with 0-34, meaning Australia’s specialist spinners didn’t take a wicket in this three-match series.

43rd over: India 178-3 (Dhoni 63, Jadhav 33) Good bowling. Stoinis jags one in, takes the edge of Dhoni’s bat and nearly chops on to the stumps. Dhoni takes a couple more balls to compose himself, then chops away to third man for a three.

53 off 42.

42nd over: India 173-3 (Dhoni 59, Jadhav 32) Just the two singles from Richardson’s over, five of those balls to Dhoni with the DRS review in the middle.

India need 58 from 48.

Updated

Review! Australia review against MS Dhoni

Struck on the pad by Richardson... No inside edge but probably too high, after the ball beat the batsman’s defensive stab on the back foot.

And so it proves. Clearing the bails, just. Australia had to, this game has almost slipped away entirely.

Updated

41st over: India 171-3 (Dhoni 58, Jadhav 31) Six from the Zampa over in risk-free style. This more positive MSD is great to watch. Finds a brace with some good running, along with four singles. There’s a brilliant sunset breaking out over the MCG as well.

40th over: India 165-3 (Dhoni 54, Jadhav 29) Stanlake may be tiring, as Jadhav milks him effectively. A couple here, a couple there. India need 66 off 60.

Amod Paranjape emails in. “Threat of spin. Is the Australian World cup opener against Afghanistan going to result in a huge upset?”

It’s not beyond the realm. Australia can’t play the slow stuff well in this format at the moment. And every other team in the world is tending to load their line-ups with at least a couple of specialists, while Australia sometimes goes without one at all. Things could get ugly for the green and gold in England come June.

39th over: India 159-3 (Dhoni 53, Jadhav 24) The runs are back to flowing as Stoinis takes the ball. A wide, a top edge from Dhoni for a couple, then Jadhav slots a full ball straight down the ground for four. Mid-on was up so the batsman went over him. Nine from the over. It was always likely to prove the case but Australia just didn’t get enough...

Half century! MS Dhoni 50 from 74 balls

38th over: India 150-3 (Dhoni 50, Jadhav 19) Better over from Stanlake, pinning Jadhav down for a while and conceding three singles. But the last of those takes MSD to a half-century.

Wrap your head around this: he has seventy ODI fifties. That’s ridiculous. Though now somebody will probably start potting him for conversion rates.

37th over: India 147-3 (Dhoni 48, Jadhav 18) Three singles from Stoinis, then the last ball of the over sees Jadhav have a wild mow. It takes a top edge over Carey for four.

36th over: India 140-3 (Dhoni 46, Jadhav 13) Not quite the over of control Australia wanted from Stanlake. Another wide, and Dhoni gets him away through cover for another three. India firming with each over that goes by.

35th over: India 133-3 (Dhoni 42, Jadhav 11) Look out, Dhoni has the lid off against Zampa. He’ll remove his headwear at the drop of a hat. And when hats drop in this town, he means business. He takes his hat off like any other man: but when his hat is off, he wins run chases.

You bet. Kohli is the more aggressive and still probably the more impulsive.

Dhoni averages 49.9 in run chases in one-dayers.

In winning run chases, he averages 99.85.

And out of 72 times he’s batted in a winning run chase, he’s been there at the end 45 times.

34th over: India 129-3 (Dhoni 39, Jadhav 10) Stanlake to Jadhav, a couple of dots to start. We have 100 balls left in the innings now, and 108 runs required. So Australia have narrowed then inverted that gap, and can definitely still bring pressure to bear. Another wicket, a few more quiet overs, either would make things difficult. Jadav blocks out a yorker for a run. Dhoni shuffles and pulls one more. Stands at the non-striker’s end wrapping and re-wrapping the velcro on his gloves, then watches Jadhav lean back and crack a cut shot for four.

102 needed from 96.

33rd over: India 123-3 (Dhoni 38, Jadhav 5) Zampa nearly slides through onto Jadhav’s stumps, but the batsman gets down just in time. Then he drops to one knee to slog two runs wide of long-on.

Updated

32nd over: India 120-3 (Dhoni 38, Jadhav 2) Four balls for Jadhav to get away from Richardson, pulling a short ball for a single. Another short ball is called wide, and another. Just the one run from the bat in that eight-ball over though.

Abhijato Sensarma emails in.

“With the Australian tour drawing to a close, I would like to say that for the away Indian matches, it has been heartening to see the new Indian broadcasters (Sony Network) have been more involved in proper analysis and decent opinions along with less affinity for the theatrics compared to the channel which broadcasts matches played in India.

“Along with the presence of people like Sunil Gavaskar who have strong opinions yet not an imposing personality, and Harsha Bhogle between the shared commentary box and radio calling, the experts’ opinions have been pleasant to hear. I hear the same has happened in Australia. After a long lull where muting the telly was more entertaining than listening to India’s home ‘experts’, is this the period of the Experts’ Renaissance?”

One can only hope so. The monotony of every broadcast being entirely staffed by former cricketers, with plenty lacking the facility to make good broadcasters, is so far below par. Hopefully the recent trend towards some level of balance is maintained and increased.

31st over: India 117-3 (Dhoni 38, Jadhav 1) Stanlake is immediately back to try to rough up the new batsman Kedar Jadhav. He does alright though, blocking a couple and getting off strike.

WICKET! Kohli c Carey b Richardon 46 (62 balls), India 113-3

30th over: India 113-3 (Dhoni 35)

Finally! Australia land the biggest fish! He’s been wrestling at the end of the line all night but now he’s on the deck. Richardson got him in Sydney. Now Richardson bowls wide outside off, just back of a length. Kohli steps into it and drives, but again the bounce is too much, taking the edge high on the blade and Carey moves across. Richardson is pumped up, he’s found an edge over the best on the planet.

That was the last ball of the over, one ball after Richardson had drawn a thicker edge for a couple of runs to third man.

Updated

29th over: India 109-2 (Kohli 43, Dhoni 34) Streaky from Dhoni! He charges Siddle and aims to spank one over cover. Instead he gets a top edge over the keeper. Dhoni whips around to see where it’s gone, but gets to see it elude Carey’s glove by a couple of feet. Undeterred, Dhoni charges again, and this time Siddle cuts the ball back through him between bat and body and it’s a dot ball.

Was that an inside edge? Maxwell appealed from point. Siddle asked politely. Carey shrugged and said no. But Hot Spot picks up the faintest gleam of a nick as the ball passes blade. Goodness me. They could have overturned that. Are we up to five chances given to Kohli and Dhoni tonight?

Updated

28th over: India 104-2 (Kohli 42, Dhoni 30) Jhye Richardson returns, and he’s on the mark immediately. Nice tight line around the off stump, red-ball bowling. Dhoni does some red-ball batting, blocking out a maiden. Time on their side, he’s happy to wait.

27th over: India 104-2 (Kohli 42, Dhoni 30) Desperation running from Dhoni, and this time I think he’s gauged one right. Walks at Siddle, stabs the ball straight down to mid-on, but correctly gauges that he’s far enough down the wicket already that he’ll make it, and that Kohli without that start will be running to the safe end. They make it, Shaun Marsh flat on his face after underarming at the stumps from close range. Dhoni adds three through midwicket later in the over.

Run-outs aside, I’ve been on Kohli Average Watch. And with a single to move to 42, his ODI average goes back to 60.

26th over: India 98-2 (Kohli 40, Dhoni 26) Dhoni still unsure against Zampa. Three balls for a single this time, while Kohli faces the other three balls in the over to score 2, 1, 1.

Updated

25th over: India 93-2 (Kohli 36, Dhoni 25) It’s pretty much an India home game at the MCG tonight. The bottom bays everywhere bar the Members are decked out in blue with tri-colour flags waving. They simmer as Dhoni flicks Siddle for two, then heave as Dhoni pulls him for four. The former skipper has a better balance in working runs so far tonight, as opposed to Sydney in Game 1 where he soaked up something like 60 dot balls out of 90 faced.

We’re at the halfway mark. 150 balls left, and only 123 runs needed. India’s game to lose, but Australia can still get into it.

Updated

24th over: India 85-2 (Kohli 35, Dhoni 18) Zampa keeping the brakes on against Dhoni: four balls for one single. Kohli tries to beat cover but Maxwell goes flying across to slap down the ball, wanting to make up for that earlier lapse in the field.

23rd over: India 83-2 (Kohli 34, Dhoni 17) So many jitters out on that field. Dhoni tries to calm them by walking at Stoinis and swatting him back past mid-on for four. A straight-bat swat, a back-foot drive while leaning back for power to a length ball.

Updated

22nd over: India 78-2 (Kohli 33, Dhoni 13) And they’ve nearly done it again, India. Nearly cocked it up between the wickets. Kohli jams out to backward point and is watching the ball, so he doesn’t see Dhoni come three quarters of the way down the pitch. Kohli goes back before Dhoni can come through, so Dhoni turns back as well. A throw to the bowler would have him cold, but Khawaj goes to the keeper first, who relays to Zampa, who fumbles the half-volley but flicks it back to the stumps expertly. Even with a clean take, Dhoni would have been just back in his ground.

21st over: India 76-2 (Kohli 32, Dhoni 12) Down to mid-off from Dhoni, and Australia miss a run-out! Oh, come off it. Virat Kohli, the hardest batsman in the world to dismiss in this format, almost gave his wicket away. Offered it up. Dhoni clunked straight to the field and took a couple of steps. I don’t know if Kohli was just responding to that cue, but he started down the wicket as well, then had to turn back. He was so far out of his ground that he gave up and just watched the throw from mid-off. But Richardson scuffed it into the dirt and wide of the stumps on the bounce. Had more time than he realised.

So Australia have given up two chances to dismiss Kohli and one for Dhoni so far. Defending 230. No bueno.

20th over: India 73-2 (Kohli 32, Dhoni 9) There’s another three. Zampa, short, and Kohli is back in a flash to drop his knees wide and carve his cut shot behind point. Can’t get enough pace across the turf though, so Stanlake is able to put in a fine chase and slide from deep cover point where he’s stationed. Dhoni, from the next five balls, can’t get Zampa away. Blot, blot. Eventually Zampa feels sorry for him and bowls a half-tracker, but Dhoni only pulls it into this thigh pad for a dot ball. So Zampa generously dishes up a big full toss outside off... and Dhoni carves it to the one outfielder on that side of the wicket for a single. A battle of courtesies.

19th over: India 69-2 (Kohli 29, Dhoni 8) You don’t see a lot of threes in ODI cricket these days, but they’re flowing tonight with the field up and the outfield slow. Fine leg, deep midwicket, third man are the only three back for Dhoni against Stoinis. Dhoni gets his three through cover.

18th over: India 65-2 (Kohli 28, Dhoni 5) That looks good from Dhoni, driving Stanlake for three. Gets the strike back, and can-cans across the stumps with a Moulin Rouge kick in order to pull a short ball just past short midwicket for a single.

17th over: India 60-2 (Kohli 27, Dhoni 1) Now what’s this? What’s this? Here comes MS Dhoni batting at No4. Rohit Sharma called for him to come up the order. Dhoni is in the role his teammate suggested. Can he do something with it after finishing off the chase in Adelaide?

First ball, he’s dropped!

Calamity again for Australia. And it’s Maxwell, normally the best set of hands in the side, who takes miracle snares out at deep midwicket. This time it’s a simple one at backward point, a cut shot straight to him, and somehow the ball goes in and pops out. Maxwell and Stoinis both have anguish on their faces. There’s been so much focus on Maxwell’s position in this team and the Test side that perhaps it’s thrown off his concentration.

The very next ball, Stoinis hits the pad and goes up in a huge appeal! Not out. Then Dhoni gets off the mark with an edge to third man. What an over from the all-rounder.

Updated

WICKET! Dhawan c & b Stoinis 23 (46 balls), India 59-2

Stoinis strikes with his second ball! A nothing push at the ball from Dhawan, spliced it straight back at the bowler who snares it in his follow-through and then hurls the ball way up into the air in celebration. Dhawan has been out there for a while, pottered along at a strike rate of 50, and now has given it up tamely.

Updated

16th over: India 57-1 (Dhawan 21, Kohli 27) Now Dhawan tries to take on Billy Stanlake, but miscues the pull for a single. Kohli pulls the next straight down to mid-on, which is unorthodox. Billy pitches up and draws a defensive shot. Kohli then works a couple round the corner.

If anyone was confused by the King of Geelong line, this is what happens from spending too much time with Adam Collins.


Updated

15th over: India 54-1 (Dhawan 20, Kohli 25) Zampa calms things down at the other end with an over featuring three singles.

14th over: India 51-1 (Dhawan 18, Kohli 24) You can beat Kohli once. You can beat Kohli twice. But it doesn’t often happen a third time. Stanlake tries for the same short ball that has done the Indian captain, but this time Kohli rattles it through cover for four! Cut shot in front of square, and the field has been slow today but that one flew. A couple of balls later, short on a different line, and Kohli nails the pull for four more! Fast, fierce, and the batsman taking it on. This is top entertainment. Kohli has already overtaken his teammate’s score.

13th over: India 43-1 (Dhawan 18, Kohli 16) Adam Zampa comes on, a little neat blond feller with a lime-green headband to top off his retro uniform. Great areas without a ball bowled. Four singles from his first, as the Indian batsmen ease into his spell as comfortably as a warm bath.

12th over: India 39-1 (Dhawan 16, Kohli 14) Stanlake is going up the gears, hitting 145 after starting at 138. Kohli taps the third ball to mid-off and judges the single alright, even though Aaro Finch throuws down the stumps direct. But looked very keen to escape the strike, the batsman. Dhawan gives it immediately back, and then Kohli is dropped!

Kohli is dropped at first slip!

And reprives don’t come any bigger. That was lovely from Stanlake, brutish and lovely. He gave that ball everything, got sizzling bounce just outside off. Kohli was trying to steer away but again the ball had too much for him. It took the top corner of the bat, perhaps a bit of glove, and flew towards slip. Handscomb got his hands up, the ball was just above his head but moving fast. And in the end Handscomb could only tip it over the bar for four runs to third man.

No justice in this game.

11th over: India 33-1 (Dhawan 15, Kohli 9) Maxwell on to bowl in the 11th over. Interesting. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa is the only specialist slow bowler in the team. Maxwell is quite animated as Kohli glances to fine leg, where Stanlake was perhaps a bit slow to get around and a bit square to start with. The bowler calls instructions. Then again he has his hand over his mouth as Kohli drives to mid-on, perhaps thinking that wasn’t far way from being chipped up. Dhawan cuts a couple to point and keeps building.

10th over: India 26-1 (Dhawan 12, Kohli 5) This guy can go super fast though. Here comes Big Billy, the King of Geelong. Billy Stanlake has been scorching them down in the nets but hasn’t played in this series yet. Now he’s into the XI while Jason Behrendorff gets a rest with a back twinge. And he tests Kohli out nicely: yorker jammed out, short ball blocked, another shorty that Kohli tries to cut but is done in by the bounce, the ball zipping over his bat. Lovely stuff. Eventually Kohli steers a single away.

9th over: India 25-1 (Dhawan 12, Kohli 4) Richardson is enjoying his day so far, just a dozen runs from his five overs. Two singles from this one. He’s been brisk but not super fast, around the 140 mark.

8th over: India 23-1 (Dhawan 11, Kohli 3) Dhawan is into his stride now, harvesting ones and twos from Siddle with relative ease. Kohli’s first shot isn’t exactly what he intended, spanging the ball away in the air through cover, though it gains him three runs. Tough to time on this pitch, it seems.

7th over: India 16-1 (Dhawan 7, Kohli 0) Whew, listen to the ovation as Kohli comes to the crease. Big crowd in at the MCG and they’re giving it the big ones. He sees out most of Richardson’s over without troubling the scorers.

“Good afternoon Geoff,” writes Mahendra Killedar from somewhere where it’s the afternoon. “230 is vintage stuff. Can I order a hard-fought low scoring humdinger please?”

You can now.

WICKET! Rohit c Marsh b Siddle 9 (17 balls), India 15-1

6th over: India 15-1 (Dhawan 5) Siddle bowls his first bad ball, and Rohit plays the drop-kick again, over square leg with a bit more timing, and despite plugging in the slow outfield this shot trickles and ambles and meanders into the rope at last. But Siddle has the final chuckle, last ball of the over. Some seam movement again, squares him up as Rohit tries to go across the line, and it ends up in the hands of Shaun Marsh at slip.

Updated

5th over: India 10-0 (Rohit 5, Dhawan 5) The field is up, and twice the batsmen find a gap and get back for three. Rohit drop-kicking one over square leg, Dhawan slashing through point. Neither shot was quite controlled as they try to adjust to this surface.

4th over: India 4-0 (Rohit 2, Dhawan 2) Siddle is looking good today. His kind of conditions. Cloudy, humid, sticky. Probably this pitch is tacky as well, if Melbourne is Melbourne. After cutting the ball in to beat the right-handed Rohit last over, he cuts the other way to beat Dhawan in this over. Past the inside edge and not far past the stumps. Just a Rohit single from the first ball for Siddle.

3rd over: India 3-0 (Rohit 1, Dhawan 2) Richardson errs once in the over, on the leg stump, and Dhawan middles a glance for two. Other than that, he plays each ball to the off-side field. That’s the luxury of chasing a small total, you can take your time to get set. Dhawan likes playing in his adopted home town, made a World Cup century here in 2015 if I recall correctly.

2nd over: India 1-0 (Rohit 1, Dhawan 0) It’s a maiden for Siddle with that review in the middle. Hey diddle diddle.

Review – Rohit survives umpire's call

Siddle gets Finch to go upstairs after hitting the back pad. Good ball, it cut into Rohit and beat his inside edge. DRS says it’s smashing middle stump, but just enough of the ball is above the stump line to qualify for umpire’s call on height. Australia keep the review, India keep the batsman.

Updated

1st over: India 1-0 (Rohit 1, Dhawan 0) Jhye Richardson will commence formalities with the ball, from the Great Southern Stand end. He’s on the money, and the Indian opening pair is happy to go quietly through his over.

Hello friends. Australia continue to underwhelm with the bat this summer, which is nothing new. It’s a sticky dull sort of evening, still plenty of daylight, and now the bowlers in gold have to come up with something special.

Fantastic bowling. India deserved to take all ten Australian wickets with all the chances they created from start to end. Only when Kohli raced through 13 overs with his part-timers at the conclusion of the power play did Australia score with ease, albeit almost exclusively in singles. Chahal was held back but when he came on in the 24th over it was the beginning of the end for the hosts as far as a big tally was concerned, both Marsh and Khawaja removed in the leggie’s first over.

When Handscomb was joined by Maxwell they threatened to get on top again but that didn’t last long, the latter top-edging a bouncer that didn’t get up. The Victorian captain top collected a tidy half-century and did the best he could with the lower order (adding 45 with Richardson), but the damage was largely done.

After coming so close to knocking off India to win the series in Adelaide on Tuesday, the home side only have 230 to play with after the dinner break. With the power and nous Kohli’s side have through their batting list, that should be nowhere near enough. For the chase, stick with Geoff Lemon. Bye for now!

Chahal speaks! “This is an amazing feeling. I have been playing this game after so long and this is my first match in Australia. Obviously, when you contribute for your team with my second five-wicket haul, it is such a great feeling.”

AUSTRALIA ALL-OUT 230! WICKET! Stanlake b Shami 0.

Shami deserved a second wicket to finish it off, his full delivery to Stanlake sneaking through and smashing into his leg stump. Australia fall eight balls short of batting out their overs, leaving India just 231 to win the series.

48th over: Australia 229-9 (Siddle 9, Stanlake 0) What a spell from Yuzvendra Chahal, 10-0-42-6 his final figures. Kohli didn’t bring him into the side until the decider and held him back today while the left handers were building. But he picked up both of those the space of four balls and that was just the start of it, finishing with the best bowling for an Indian at the MCG in an ODI. Lovely work.

WICKET! Zampa c Shankar b Chahal 8 (Australia 228-9)

CHAHAL HAS SIX! Zampa danced at the spinner, trying to smash him over his head but didn’t get enough of it, Shankar taking the easy chance down at long-on. He has two balls left to make that a very rare ODI 7-for!

47th over: Australia 227-8 (Zampa 8, Siddle 7) Siddle off the mark with a hit-and-run push to Kohli at cover, which would have left him several metres short had the Indian skipper nailed the direct hit. Back on strike due to the overthrow, Siddle gets low and lifts Shami over the slips for four! Clever from the veteran.


WICKET! Handscomb lbw b Chahal 58 (Australia 219-8)

Quite superb wrist spin from Chahal, picking up his fifth with a wonderful toppie that Handscomb missed from deep in the crease, the ball on track for middle stump when it struck his back pad. He went upstairs because he had no choice as the final recognised batsman. Very, very out.

46th over: Australia 219-8 (Zampa 7)


45th over: Australia 216-7 (Handscomb 58, Zampa 4) You can’t ask for more much more than that from the new man Zampa, scoring from each ball he has faced so far, Handscomb adding a couple down the ground and three in the gap to midwicket. Nine off the Bhuvi over. Will Handscomb try and take down Chahal?

44th over: Australia 207-7 (Handscomb 52, Zampa 1) Zampa is off the mark with a single to square leg, keeping the strike. It is not for nothing that the South Australian does have nine professional half-centuries to his name.

WICKET! Richardson c Jadhav b Chahal (Australia 206-7)

That’s four for the leggie! On the leg stump line, Richardson mistimes a clip in the direction of Jadhav at midwicket to completes the diving chance. The end of a productive 45-run union.

43rd over: Australia 205-6 (Handscomb 51, Richardson 16) A balletic error on the rope, Jadeja leaping over the diving sub Rayudu, but they can’t keep the ball off the rope, giving Richardson his first boundary down to fine leg. The West Australian is growing in confidence, striking the final ball sweetly for two more to deep cover. The modern game is such that all of these young quicks can bat a bit.


Handscomb to 50!

42nd over: Australia 197-6 (Handscomb 50, Richardson 9) Chahal probably won’t bowl out his ten but he is every chance to pick up five, back now for a crack from the Great Southern Stand End. Both batsmen are now hitting the sweepers well enough, Handscomb’s feet and wrists in concert, but boundaries are going to be hard to come by without a fair degree of risk. With a second single down the ground, Handscomb moves to his third ODI 50, getting there in 57 balls. It’s hard to fault the way he has played over the last week, now a big chance to go to the World Cup - even with Smith and Warner back into the mix.

41st over: Australia 193-6 (Handscomb 48, Richardson 7) It says a lot about how good India’s seam attack was during the Test series that Bhuvi could not get a start. He’s so accurate, always moving the ball around off the seam, very hard to get away. It takes Handscomb three attempts to get him down the ground, Richardson playing a nice flick to midwicket, Handscomb keeping the strike with a glide through the vacant cordon. Bhuvi’s current analysis: 7-1-19-2.

40th over: Australia 190-6 (Handscomb 46, Richardson 6) Handscomb takes Shankar on over midwicket and finds the gap, giving him his second boundary. He’s giving himself every chance to put the foot down in this final ten, provided Richardson - who is looking solid - can stuck around for the bulk of them.

39th over: Australia 182-6 (Handscomb 39, Richardson 6) Bhuvi’s back and making very difficult work of it for Handscomb then Richardson, the latter beaten with a beauty that deserves to kiss his outside edge, the off stump or both.

38th over: Australia 181-6 (Handscomb 38, Richardson 6) Shankar, the man on debut, is back with his accurate medium pacers. I miss the days when the ODI game had space for one seamer sending them down at this far more gentle speed. Indeed, Tim Wigmore wrote a nice piece about this. He does the trick here, going for three singles, making 0/15 from his five.

37th over: Australia 178-6 (Handscomb 36, Richardson 5) Shami’s short balls to Maxwell varied in bounce, so he is right to have a pop at Handscomb and Richardson too, both scoring behind the wicket. A nice clip from the Victorian captain follows for two, Richardson finishing with a fine cover drive for two as well.

36th over: Australia 171-6 (Handscomb 32, Richardson 2) Jadeja goes again, now into his ninth on the bounce. Handscomb continues to tick over, albeit with a boundary from the outside edge on this occasion. But he’s hitting the sweepers well and using his feet confidently. Richardson does likewise, getting his first runs.

35th over: Australia 162-6 (Handscomb 25, Richardson 0) Australia’s final four batsmen average single digits in this form of the game. Uh oh.

WICKET! Maxwell c Bhuvneshwar b Shami 26 (Australia 161-6)

BHUVI! What a wonderful catch! Shami is back and has successfully won Maxwell’s top edge. He got away with something similar earlier in the over but the second didn’t get up, flying down to fine leg off the edge but with a lot of work to do for the fielder, a task that Bhuvi was up to with an athletic forward dive. Fantastic work from Kohli as well to back in his fast bowler to make the big breakthrough. If they weren’t before, Australia are in real strife now.



34th over: Australia 153-5 (Handscomb 21, Maxwell 22) Maxwell is changing this game of cricket, flogging the full toss that comes early from Chahal then driving him superbly to finish, getting down the pitch and splitting the gap between the sweepers at deep cover. A glorious shot to push back against the man who has had the Australians’ measure from the moment he came to the bowling crease. 11 off it.

“He’s got too much of a gift,” Michael Vaughan says of the flaw of Maxwell batting seven, noting that the rest of the world will be very happy he isn’t higher up.

33rd over: Australia 142-5 (Handscomb 19, Maxwell 13) Maxwell smashes another half tracker, this time coming from Jadeja. Our list of ‘Do Nots’ from earlier? Do Not bowl short to Maxwell if you are a spinner.

In response, Shane Warne says that Maxwell brings, before a ball is bowled, the fear factor. “They know what he is capable of, and I think when you have Khawaja, Marsh and Handscomb together you can bowl to those guys. But Maxwell brings the fear factor. Who would you rather bowl to? The guys who they can contain runs with. That’s why I think they made a mistake batting Maxwell at seven.”


32nd over: Australia 135-5 (Handscomb 17, Maxwell 8) Handscomb lucky! He completely miscues Chahal, edging him high up to midwicket but Shankar, running back with the flight, cannot make it in time despite his best efforts. In response, Maxwell smashes a shorter legbreak over midwicket for four.

31st over: Australia 128-5 (Handscomb 15, Maxwell 3) “They have got to bat the next ten overs these two,” says Mark Waugh on TV. “It is simple as that. It is as long a tail as I’ve seen in an Australian team.” True, that. Back to Jadeja to Maxwell, the No7 striking along the ground to cover, Handscomb then going down the ground. They then repeat the same shots for the same result to finish.

“Finally Chahal helping Maxwell,” emails Mahendra Killedar. “He can bat full 20 overs today.” Too right. Geoff and I did a 60-minute aural history of Glenn Maxwell in our Final Word live podcast show last night, so I’m fairly invested in all this.

30th over: Australia 124-5 (Handscomb 13, Maxwell 1) Out walks Maxwell, wearing his baggy gold baseball cap. He’s off the mark second ball to long-on.


WICKET! Stoinis c Rohit b Chahal 10 (Australia 123-5)

He’s done it again! Chahal gets a lot of turn on this leg break, spinning across Stoinis and collecting his edge on the way through to Rohit at slip, completing an excellent one-handed snaffle diving to his right.

29th over: Australia 122-4 (Handscomb 12, Stoinis 10) That’s a good over of consolidation for Australia, five of Jadeja’s deliveries scored off around the ground, worth seven to the hosts.

28th over: Australia 115-4 (Handscomb 9, Stoinis 6) Handscomb once again is rotating the strike from the first ball but Stoinis finds a way to immediately score himself this time, crashing a drive past the bowler for four. Another four dots in a row do follow, though. It is a habit he has to break.



27th over: Australia 110-4 (Handscomb 8, Stoinis 2) Handscomb has started well, jumping at Jadeja’s first ball and stroking it carefully to long-off. But Stoinis can’t do likewise, tied to the crease for the final five balls. His strike rate early in an innings is a talking point on TV, sitting at about 65 on average for his first ten balls.

26th over: Australia 109-4 (Handscomb 7, Stoinis 2) Stonis off the mark with a nicely struck drive down the ground, Handscomb also taking a single in that direction. They finished with one more each off Chahal, to the boundary riders at deep point and square leg. I’m looking forward to seeing how Stoinis goes about this task.

25th over: Australia 105-4 (Handscomb 5, Stoinis 0) Good start from Handscomb against Jadeja, advancing then clipping for two. Later, he was again using his feet before driving a couple down the ground. He has to bat for 15 overs here, given he was picked for this side mainly due to how well he plays spin.

“Re Australia v Afghanistan,” tweets Geoff Foley. “I’d put firm money on Afghanistan if the game was to be at Ciderabad. Although the odds would be so short as maybe to not warrant it.”

For those who don’t follow the county championship, Ciderabad = Taunton, which turns like the subcontinent. Bristol spun plenty during the Women’s World Cup a couple of years back, but I think the skill of the bowlers will be the biggest issue.

WICKET! Khawaja c & b Chahal 34 (Australia 101-4)

Two wickets in four balls, Chahal dismissing both of the left handers! It’s a soft one too, Khawaja trying to turn a topspinner into the leg side, the leading edge ballooning straight back to the bowler instead. “Why didn’t he hit it harder?” Michael Vaughan ponders. “Why didn’t he hit it straighter?”

24th over: Australia 101-4 (Handscomb 1, Stoinis 0) Chahal finishes with an accurate wrong’un to the new man Stoinis. What a fantastic first over: 2/2.

WICKET! Marsh st Dhoni b Chahal 39 (Australia 100-3)

Chahal does it second ball! The legspinner misses down the legside but Marsh was on the advance. Once he missed the ball he was in real strife, Dhoni getting the bails off just before the No4 got his bat back. The decision was sent upstairs but Dhoni knew - he always knows. Watching the replay a couple of times, that’s very good bowling from Chahal to see Marsh coming and direct his delivery wide.

23rd over: Australia 99-2 (Khawaja 34, Marsh 39) Seven off Jadeja’s third, punctuated by a picture-perfect Khawaja reverse sweep through backward point. He’s turning into one of the best reverse sweepers in the country.

22nd over: Australia 92-2 (Khawaja 29, Marsh 38) Kohli backs Jadhav to go again despite his poor previous set, and he is rewarded for it with only four runs taken to the sweepers. He’s bowled six overs; Chahal is yet to get on.

21st over: Australia 88-2 (Khawaja 28, Marsh 35) As is often the case an an ODI with two spinners bowling, I’ve fallen behind a bit here, so let me just relay that eight were taken off Jadeja’s over, all to the sweepers in the smaller money. They’ve started confidently against the experienced tweaker.

20th over: Australia 80-2 (Khawaja 25, Marsh 31) Marsh got the memo, taking Jadhav down for 15 off this over, by far Australia’s best of the innings. It started with a smashed boundary through midwicket off a long hop, three then cut through point before he replicated the first shot off another half-tracker. Runs came from every ball of the set, Khawaja doing his bit too.

Pratik Dubey makes the very reasonable point that Jadhav’s numbers are a lot more impressive than one would expect. “He makes key breakthroughs and doesn’t give away many runs. Makes me wonder if he may be the worst looking successful part time bowler, anyone else you can think of?”

I’ll put some thought into that. Any nominations from the floor to get us going?

19th over: Australia 65-2 (Khawaja 22, Marsh 19) Shankar’s job is done for now, giving up just 12 runs in four overs. Form his end, Kohli turns to Jadeja to tighten the screws once more. The champion spinner is not quite on the mark to begin though, spraying a couple down the legside to Marsh after Khawaja turned another misdirected delivery to fine leg.

18th over: Australia 59-2 (Khawaja 19, Marsh 18) A fourth over for the sixth bowler Jadhav, once again just going for four singles. I understand that it is important not to lose a third wicket at this stage but Virat is taking the you know what and it is working a treat. In fairness, the offspinner has really found his range and is is giving it a rip, beating Marsh with the final ball. Per our earlier topic, Marsh is lucky he didn’t drag that back foot.

17th over: Australia 55-2 (Khawaja 17, Marsh 16) That’s more like it, Marsh putting away a shorter delivery from Shankar, pulled hard through midwicket to bring up the Australian 50 as they take their first drinks break.



16th over: Australia 49-2 (Khawaja 16, Marsh 12) There is room for one anchor in a successful ODI team in 2019, but two? Can Khawaja and Marsh co-exist? With Jadhav skipping through another over worth only four runs to the home side, I do wonder. There was an outside edge in there as well, Marsh lucky not to be walking off, deflecting into the end of Dhoni’s gloves rather than the webbing.

15th over: Australia 45-2 (Khawaja 15, Marsh 9) There is nothing theatening about Shankar but they can’t get him away. Nor are they trying to for that matter, happy to take a few risk-free singles. “It feels like we are watching a game from 1986,” says Andrew Wu, my press box colleague, of current score.

14th over: Australia 42-2 (Khawaja 14, Marsh 7) Jadhav beats Marsh with one that really spins, delivered with his arm in the fourth row of the southern stand such is the side-arm he has going on. It’s a bold tactic and it is working, the part-timer’s second over going for just three singles. A related World Cup prediction: Afghanistan, with their bevy of superb spinners, are going to make life very difficult for Australia in their tournament opener in Bristol.

13th over: Australia 39-2 (Khawaja 13, Marsh 5) A fraction quicker from Shankar this time around, keep both left-handers honest from over the wicket. The final delivery to Khawaja nearly got him in real strife, finding the inside edge. Not a bad start at all from the all-rounder.



12th over: Australia 37-2 (Khawaja 12, Marsh 4) It might be a bit defensive from Kohli to let Jadhav push through an over or two with his side-arm nude nuts, but going for just five singles, he has done the job as intended. If he gets another over, one of these two experienced batsmen surely have to back themselves to take him down. It’s not international standard bowling, not even close.

11th over: Australia 32-2 (Khawaja 9, Marsh 2) Shankar, the man on debut, is on for his first twist of his ODI career. He’s done a lot better with his first over than Siraj did on debut in Adelaide, going for just a couple with his little mediums, one of those a wide. The right time to bowl him at this stage of the innings.

“Going by the numbers the top Do Not in the Do Not list might be Do not let Kohli bat second,” says Pratik Dubey. Quite right! He then quickly adds: “On second thoughts the number one “Do Not” should be - Do not bowl anything to Finch except incoming darts!” The story of his summer, sadly.

10th over: Australia 30-2 (Khawaja 8, Marsh 2) Khawaja gives the strike straight to Shaun Marsh, Australia’s man of the moment, who gets off the mark with a carve through point for a couple; the stroke of a man who is seeing them well. Another poor first ten overs for Australia, a theme across the series.



WICKET! Finch lbw b Bhuvneshwar 14 (Australia 27-2)

What a bizarre passage of play! Finch has been given lbw the ball after Bhuvi tried to deliver to the opener from four metres behind the crease! It prompted a long conversation between bowler and umpire, signalled a dead ball because Finch had pulled out of his stance. The very next ball an off-cutter hit him on the knee roll but a long way down the track but he elected not to send it to DRS and walk off.

9th over: Australia 27-2 (Khawaja 7)

Updated

8th over: Australia 27-1 (Finch 14, Khawaja 7) A couple through cover to begin, Khawaja leaning nicely into a Shami half-volley. He doesn’t get another chance to score, the Indian quick sending down another probing over, once again beating the No3’s outside edge along the way.

7th over: Australia 25-1 (Finch 14, Khawaja 5) Shot! Finch gets on the front foot and crunches Bhuvi through cover for four. That’s the guy who was the best white-ball opener in the world for the bulk of 2018. Oops, now that I’ve written that it was inevitable a false stroke would follow, the captain’s outside edge located for a second time in the innings, straight to where a second slip would have been. I’m surprised they don’t have a second man in there given how many times these two have beaten the bat so far in these muggy conditions.

6th over: Australia 15-1 (Finch 6, Khawaja 4) Khawaja again misses Shami, albeit on the back foot pulling this time, struck on the back leg. He’s much better to the next delivery, crunching from the balls of his feet in front of point for a nerve-settling boundary. With the middle of the bat found, the left-hander is comfortable addressing the second half of the over.

What a mess at the Gabba last night! Sure enough, refunds are available.

5th over: Australia 11-1 (Finch 6, Khawaja 0) Better from Finch, defending confidently then steering two behind point with the full face of the bat before seeing off the rest of the Bhuvi over without risk.

“After Jadeja’s run-out in the last match,” emails Seventh Horcrux, “I was thinking about the You Don’ts in cricket at the moment. You don’t take on Jadeja’s left arm- You don’t try to drive Jimmy Anderson in England.”

They are one and two. Don’t drag your back foot sweeping when Dhoni is keeping another high on the list. What else? Hit me up.

4th over: Australia 9-1 (Finch 4, Khawaja 0) The Indian openers are right on top here, Shami beating Khawaja with a lovely away-ducker then enticing him into a waft that goes past the blade once more. He makes it three in the over with the final delivery; another unconvincing push from the crease. I don’t think I’ve seen a bowler go past the outside edge as often as Shami does.

WICKET! Carey c Kohli b Bhuvneshwar 5 (Australia 8-1)

Lovely from Bhuvi, round the wicket to Carey angling in then darting away just enough to clip the shoulder of Carey’s bat, the ball landing in the hands of Kohli at second slip - he doesn’t miss those. That makes it three failures for the South Australian at the top of the list this series.

3rd over: Australia 8-1 (Finch 3, Khawaja 0) Finch was off the mark with a nice push through midwicket. That’ll feel good after the five minutes he has had.

2nd over: Australia 5-0 (Carey 5, Finch 0) Talk about living dangerously! A terrible mix-up from the opening pair, Carey prodding to point, Finch sent back when the vice-captain realised it was Jadeja - as you do. The throw looked on target but bounced just over the woodwork, the skipper again saved from walking off without scoring. As an omen, it was on this ground during the 2013 World Cup against England in the tournament opener that he was dropped at square leg for nothing, going on to make a big hundred. Earlier, Carey struck the first boundary of the afternoon, taking Shami’s short ball through midwicket over the circle. “I really want a drone,” says Shane Warne on telly. “There are many options that you can use it for.” My mind, it is boggled.

1st over: Australia 1-0 (Carey 1, Finch 0) Inches away from a duck for Finch! The final ball of Bhuvi’s over caught the Australian captain’s outside edge, falling just short of Rohit at first slip. Earlier, he was hit on the pad when shouldering arms, prompting an unsuccessful appeal from the bowler. All happening.

The players are back on the field! Hurrah! Bhuvi to continue at Finch with Australia 1-0 after two balls when the rain came. Let’s try this again: PLAY!

Play to resume at 1:55pm. No overs have been lost so the dinner break has been reduced to 30 minutes

From where I’m sitting, it looks like the rain has stopped. In turn, the umpires are on their way to the middle, presumably to order that the covers be taken off.

If I was on the 1s and 2s right now, this is where I’d take it.

Lying in the depths of your imagination



Rain stops play!

Would you believe it. Carey was off the mark to third man first ball with a nice little steer, Finch defended the second... then the rain came tumbling down.

The players are on the field. Bhuvi has the ball for India, running in from the Members End. He’ll be delivering at Alex Carey to begin. PLAY!

Yup, play is officially delayed. If no further rain, they will be on at 1:30pm. Meanwhile, a very good start from the Cricket Ground DJ, who has had a blinder during this series.

This could replace Great Southern Land as the song the Australian team run out to.

This is some good news. CA are putting up all their old footage! Get in!

Nothing official, but the hessian cover is back on. So, that’ll almost certainly make it a late start. It’s going to be one of those days, I’m afraid.

Three changes for India. Siraj has been dropped for new all-rounder Vijay Shankar, Chahal the leggie replaces Kuldeep and Jadhav is in for the out of sorts Rayudu.

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal

Justin Langer is on Fox Cricket. He notes that India and England have “some of the all time great players” in their team at the moment. “Hopefully, by the time we get to the World Cup we’ll have a settled team and we’ll give it a good crack.”

Interesting question from Adam Gilchrist at the end about the number of interviews that he now has to do as a result of the new broadcast deal. “It is like the Truman Show,” he says.

Aaron Finch says that Australia would have bowled too. He confirms the inclusions of Stanlake and Zampa. “It might nibble a touch but it could be a bit on the slower side early,” the captain adds. “I would have bowled but we are not too disappointed.”

Australia: Alex Carey (wk), Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Peter Siddle, Adam Zampa

India have won the toss and they have elected to bowl

“It is going to be overcast and with rain it could be stop-start so as batsmen you are never in,” explains Virat Kohli. “So that’s the thinking behind it.” Teams shortly.

Rain has delayed the toss. If there is no further rain, it will be held at 1pm. But play will still start, in theory, at 1:20pm.

The pitch. Which, I should add, is now looking ready for play with the stumps quickly inserted, getting a bit of treatment from the ground staff now. Maybe we will start on time. If so, the toss will take place in a few minutes from now.

Welcome to the MCG for the third ODI between Australia and India!

This old ground loves a final and that is, in essence, what we have here today with these two sides coming into this rubber with one win apiece. Australia went close to wrapping it up in two but Kohli and Dhoni had other ideas, doing as they have for so long to haul down Australia’s 298 in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Another contest just as entertaining would really do the trick here, albeit in very different conditions. At Adelaide, the sides were running around in 41 degree heat. Right now, it is raining and the covers are on. It isn’t heavy enough to delay Australia’s warm up, going through their paces at the northern end, but a delayed start is the most likely scenario at this stage.

When they do get going, Aaron Finch’s team sheet will have two changes, Billy Stanlake and Adam Zampa in at the expense of Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Lyon, the former due to back soreness and the latter dropped. Surely it’ll be the case that they need two spinners at the World Cup, but that’s for another day.

India are also out kicking a ball around at the southern end with the main covers now coming off, a piece of good news that I will leave you on for the time being. Stay in touch throughout the afternoon, whether that’s for cricket or rain. Email, twitter - you know the drill.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Stanley Tucci's Iconic Mid-Century Armchair Comes In Many Cool Colors – But I'm Won Over by the Gray
Stanley's modern chair and coordinating footrest are elegant and contemporary, proving that gray is anything but a boring color
Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Why Harry Potter's New Lucius Malfoy Actor Says The Series Has 'A Really Special Atmosphere' Despite J.K. Rowling Controversy
The new Malfoy actor is weighing in.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Apparently, Conan O’Brien Had A Fake Sketch He Pitched To 'Every Single' SNL Host
What could have been!
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
OK, I Am Living For This Fan Idea About What They Should Do With The F1 Sequel (And How Tom Cruise Could Be Involved)
Make this movie now.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Redditor’s 50-cent thrift store purchase just turned into a massive national treasure
Finding history in a thrift store bin.
We Got This Covered
We Got This Covered
The Simpsons showrunner says series will ‘never have a finale’
Unusual way long-running animated series would end has been revealed
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play