In the second One-day International (ODI) of India vs Australia 2019 five-match series at Nagpur, the see-saw battle saw pendulum swinging from one side to another. While chasing the target of 251, Australia equally found it too hard to score runs freely on a difficult-looking surface where the ball has gripped too much. Even though Marcus Stoinis fought hard, but he played in the hands of the Men in Blue. He slammed a fifty while going into a shell at the fag end of the innings. The hosts’ bowlers put up a grand effort following a masterclass ton from skipper Virat Kohli.
Vijay Shankar produced a brilliant ball which nipped while trapping Stoinis in front of the wickets before finishing off Aussie innings on 242 in 49.3 overs. India won the game by eight runs to lead the ODI series 2-0.
For India, Kuldeep Yadav bowled his heart out. He bagged three wickets while giving away 54 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah, who has stemmed the run flow bags two wickets for giving away 29 runs in 10 overs, is the impactful performance for the hosts.
Man of the match:
Without an iota of doubt, courageous Kohli is the contender for his resilience while stitching crucial stands in between to take Australia close to somewhat a competitive total in Nagpur ODI.
Following the wobbling start, Kohli took the onus on himself to score runs. He further played with positive intent when his team was in dire straits.
Nagpur ODI turning point:
Exceptional Jadeja’s athleticism:
Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Peter Handscomb, who was going stronger while scoring 48 off 59 balls. The ball-watching Handscomb who ran for a single, saw Jadeja moving swiftly to pick a ball before the direct throw found the former short of his crease.
To add more to it, Bumrah’s two wickets in an over strengthened the case for India.
2nd Innings:
Meanwhile, Australian had a resounding start when opener Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja put up a sublime show. The duo put up 83 runs for the first wicket in 14.3 overs.
Kuldeep, who often rely on his strength with Dhoni’s ample support, trapped Finch in front of the stumps. Finch faced 53 balls for his 37. He smashed five fours and a maximum.
Finch was followed by Usman Khawaja, who faced 37 balls to score 38 runs with the help of six fours.
Kedar Jadhav got better of him when Kohli has claimed a simple catch within a circle.
Shaun Marsh, who was introduced in the line up scored 16 off 27 balls, as Ravindra Jadeja accounted for his wicket when Australia’s score was 122 in 23.5 overs.
It came in the 29th over of Australia’s innings when Mahendra Singh Dhoni has given a piece of advice to the wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Dhoni told the chinaman, ‘Maarne ki koshish kar raha hai dalta reh,’ which roughly means Maxwell is aiming for a big shot keep bowling at your line.
As the pressure kept mounting on Aussie batsman Maxwell, who tried to whack the ball on the onside, but it, unfortunately, kept low and disturbed the stumps at the score of 132 in 28.3 overs.
Maxwell managed to score four off 18 balls.
Kuldeep undid the wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey. He scored 22 off 24 balls which eventually pulled things back for India. He was followed by Coulter-Nile, who got bowled on the bowling of Bumrah.
Here’s Australia’s scorecard for Nagpur ODI:
1st innings:
Earlier, Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and straightaway put India to bat first with a surface evident to help seamers. The hosts had a tough time on an uneven surface except for the likes of skipper Virat Kohli and Tamil Nadu-based all-rounder Vijay Shankar.
Kohli slammed his 40th ODI hundred. He smashed ten fours while facing 120 deliveries to score 116 runs.
On the other side, Shankar, who got run out unfortunately when Kohli’s straight-shot saw Adam Zampa getting a hand on the ball before it dislodged the furniture at the non-striker’s end.
Shankar, who looked in a good touch scored 41-ball 45 with the help of five fours and a six.
For the fourth wicket, Kohli alongside Shankar recorded 71-ball 81-run partnership, before a crucial 66-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Kohli and Jadeja.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started off the proceedings for India, but Finch’s decision bore fruits early on when hosts lost two wickets at the score of 38 in 8.3 overs.
The top-notch batsman Rohit has registered his unwanted record (first duck) in India when sliced the ball straight down to the throat of Zampa, who was stationed at third man.
Dhawan managed to score 21 off 29 balls while finding the fence four times.
Ambati Rayudu had played a reckless shot after a decent start. He scored 18 off 32 balls.
Interestingly, Australia introduced the spin option in the form of Glenn Maxwell in seventh over. Also, Zampa bowled eighth over of Indian innings.
Furthermore, with the loss of Shankar, India pulled back things when Zampa bagged two wickets in an overs including MS Dhoni’s wicket.
Dhoni bagged an unwanted record while being dismissed on the first delivery he had faced. Earlier, in 2010 Dhoni perished on the bowling of John Hastings in Vizag ODI.
Jadhav on the other side was caught by Finch on the bowling of Zampa when he was batting on 11.
Moreover, Jadeja faced 40 balls for his 21 to amass 2011 runs in ODI cricket. Before folding Men in Blues’ innings, Cummins cleaned up Kuldeep after scoring run-a-ball three, whereas, Nathan Coulter-Nile wrapped India’s innings by cleaning up Jasprit Bumrah on nought.
Australia bowled out India on 250 in 48.2 overs.
Coulter-Nile, Maxwell and Nathan Lyon picked wicket apiece.
Cummins was the pick of the bowlers who bagged four wickets while conceding 29 runs in his nine overs. Also, Zampa a bit expensive claimed two wickets.
Here’s India’s scorecard for Nagpur ODI:
