Having won the first ODI in Hyderabad, India claimed a nail-biting win over Australia in the second ODI on March 5 at Nagpur. However, Australia gave a tough fight to India but it was not enough to win the game. India needs only one match to win the five-match ODI series.
Australia won the toss and chose to field first and got the start which they wanted to. India had a poor start as Rohit Sharma got out for a duck. Shikhar Dhawan and captain Virat Kohli steadied the innings for some time, but some quick successions in the middle-over left India to struggle a bit. However, Kohli-Vijay Shankar’s partnership and Kohli-Jadeja’s stand helped India to hit the 250 mark.
In reply, Australia got off to a flying start. Openers Aaron Finch and Usman Khwaja added 83 runs before some quick successions left Australia struggling in the middle. Though Marcus Stoinis tried his best, Vijay Shankar’s last over changed the game totally.
Here are the talking points of the encounter:
Virat Kohli’s swashbuckling century:
India captain Virat Kohli has been a formidable form and had another good day with the bat. Rohit Sharma’s dismissal for a duck in the very first over brought him early on the crease. He steadied the ship with Dhawan and added 37 runs and later, another 37 runs with Ambati Rayadu. But both Dhawan and Rayadu’s dismissal left India into trouble.
But Kohli played with utmost patience and ensured India to reach 250 runs mark. He scored his 40th ODI hundred and became the quickest to score 9000 international runs as a captain.
Virat Kohli and Vijay Shankar's 79-run partnership:
After having lost Rohit Sharma in the very first over, Kohli-Dhawan steadied the ship with 37 runs partnership. But in a quick succession, India lost their three wickets and started struggling to 75 for 3 in the 17th over.
Then Vijay Shankar came to his side’s rescue. Shankar took the charge with some big hitting strokes and took some pressure off from Kohli. However, Kohli stood strong and allowed Shankar to play his natural game without any pressure. Shankar took 41 balls to reach 46 runs which included five boundaries and a six.
On the other hand, Kohli played another responsible knock. Both the batsmen added 79-run for the fifth wicket. Before the pair become more dangerous, a bizarre dismissal (run-out) ended Shankar’s quickfire innings. However, his innings gave the pace in India’s score.
Accurate bowling by Indian bowlers in death over:
Along with Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb’s 39-run stand played an important role in Australia’s run-chase. However, a direct throw from Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Handscomb in the 38th overturned the game in India's favor.
Another 47-run stand by Stoinis and Alex Carey tried to pose a hurdle before India’s win. But Kuldeep Yadav’s ability to take wickets in the crucial moment once again proved right. The game was a nail-biting one and there were many times when the game was in Australia’s favor. However, Jasprit Bumrah’s accurate line and length earned him two wickets in an over and helped to turn the table. He gave only two runs in the last 12 balls and took two crucial wickets.
Kohli gave the final over to Vijay Shankar to defend 11 runs. Vijay Shankar trapped Stoinis before the stumps on the very first delivery and took two more balls to dismiss Adam Zampa and helped India to another convincing win by 8 runs.
With this win, India completed their 500th ODI win. Both the teams will face each other for the third ODI on Friday at Ranchi.
