India beat Oz to seal series

Skipper Virat Kohli said Sunday Hardik Pandya is a "great asset" to Indian cricket after the all-rounder steered the hosts to a series-clinching five-wicket win over Australia in Indore.

Pandya's 72-ball 78 and his fifth-wicket stand with Manish Pandey (36 not out) helped the hosts chase down their 294-run target with 13 balls to spare.

Openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane put on a 139-run partnership to lay a foundation for the team to take an unassailable 3-0 lead, but it was Pandya who showed maturity after being promoted to number four in the batting order as he put on 78 runs with Pandey, who scored the winning runs.

"Rohit and Rahane were very good and then Hardik Pandya, only he can do what he does when he bats like that. He [Pandya] is a star," Kohli said. "He possess ability with the bat, ball and in the field as well. We have been wanting a guy like that for the past five, six years.

SCORES IN BRIEF

AUSTRALIA: 293 for 6 (Finch 124, Smith 63; Bumrah 2-52)

INDIA: 294 for 5 in 47.5 overs (Rahane 70, Sharma 70, Pandya 78; Cummins 2-54)

Result: India won by 5 wickets and clinched 5-match series 3-0.

Player-of-the-match: Hardik Pandya.