Suryakumar Yadav-led India confirmed a bilateral series win against Australia in Raipur, avenging the defeat the Men in Blue had suffered at the hands of the Aussies just weeks earlier in the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 Final. India took a two-game lead with them into the week, lost the third, but bounced back with successive wins in Raipur and Bengaluru to claim the series 4-1.
India's week began with a narrow loss to Australia in Guwahati. Despite putting 222 runs up on the board - courtesy of Ruturaj Gaikwad's maiden T20I ton and the first T20I ton by any Indian against Australia - the visitors emerged victorious from a gritty tie on the final ball. Two days later, however, India succeeded in their quest, limiting their opponents to a low total despite setting them a modest target of just over 170 themselves. On Sunday, December 3, the Men in Blue beat Australia again, confirming a near-perfect campaign and preparing in the best way possible for the tour of South Africa to come.
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As far as individual accolades go, Ruturaj Gaikwad finished the bilateral series with the most runs (223), while Ravi Bishnoi took home the Man of the Series award. Bishnoi claimed 11 wickets over five games.
Domestically, the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023 continued its march toward the knockout stages with many of the usual suspects on top of their respective groups. Five teams will progress directly to the quarter-finals by winning the group while the five which finish runners-up will enter last eight preliminaries, with all the ties being played in Ahmedabad.
Elsewhere, the India-based Syed Modi International 2023 reached its conclusion with none of the home favourites finishing top of their respective podiums. The pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto came the closest, though, losing the final of the Women's Doubles category to Japanese duo Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi.
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Indian Super League resumed with FC Goa maintaining their lead on top of the table as one of three unbeaten sides in the competition. Of those three, Mohun Bagan Super Giant remained perfect, having won their fifth game in succession since the start of the season. Outside the national peripheries, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal finished their weeks with a win each in the Premier League, while Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur shared the spoils in a six-goal thriller. Manchester United, though, suffered a torrid week, first, throwing away a two-goal lead in the UEFA Champions League against Galatasaray, and then, losing to Newcastle United in the Premier League on the following weekend.
Meanwhile, Germany beat France in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Final in Surakarta Indonesia and several European nations learned their group stage opponents for next year's UEFA Euro.
