At 87-5, Australia truly had India down and out on a deck that remained difficult for stroke making. Thanks to a fiery burst from Nathan Coulter Nile at the top of the order, Australia were all over the hosts, and it seemed a mere formality before the Indian innings was wrapped up.
However, a heroic stand between MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya saw India making a daunting comeback. The 118-run stand was dominated mainly by the Baroda all-rounder, who scored 83 off just 66 deliveries. The momentum though was found when Pandya slaughtered Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa for three consecutive sixes. From there on, the hosts never looked back and posted a more than defendable total.
Post Australia’s loss in the rain-marred first ODI, Zampa spoke about his disappointment of getting hit by Pandya. According to the leggie, his plans didn’t take off as well, as he would have liked against Pandya.
“I pride myself on bowling well under pressure, but the other day I did not execute how I would have liked to in the over against Hardik. It would have been important to get him off the strike. Probably I bowled three balls too full,” said Zampa. “As soon as you miss against a player like Hardik, it’s going to go the distance. Hardik is a very good player,” he added.
“In Australia, you can mess up your length a little bit, and you will probably get away with it purely because of the size of the ground. Here the length is very important.”You never liked to be hit for three sixes in a row. But I guess it does happen, probably happened to Shane Warne. As long as you don’t put yourself under too much pressure and learn from those situations, it’s good. Hopefully, I will get him out earlier next time,” he further added.
Zampa though showered praises on the legendary MS Dhoni for always guiding the men in blue.
“MS has obviously done it for a long time and probably played a lot of innings under pressure like that. The way he has timed his innings in his whole career is probably something. To have him as a guide for a young player like Hardik and others in the Indian team is very helpful.”