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| India vs Australia, 2nd ODI: Chasing 359, hosts register record nine-wicket win | | | AGENCIES
Jaipur, Oct 16: In what turned out to be a day of records being set and the same being broken, India stunned Australia by chasing down a mammoth target of 360 - the highest successful ODI run-chase ever by the Men in Blue.
Scorecard:
The top-five Australian batsmen each hit a half-century to silence the local fans at the Sawai Man Singh stadium here. The same spectators could hardly remain seated as Rohit Sharma (141*), Shikhar Dhawan (95) and Virat Kohli (100*) bludgeoned Aussie bowlers and crossed the finish line in the 44th over.
The record chase - India's previous highest run-chase in ODI s was 326 vs England - was mostly due to a solid foundation laid by the two openers. Both Sharma and Dhawan were rather watchful to begin with, considering the mammoth required run-rate. They however changed gears around the 8th over and found the gaps with ease. When they couldn't, aerial shots lit up the Jaipur skies.
Such was the dominance that Dhawan soon raced his way to the 90s, only for a lapse in concentration to result in his wicket to James Faulkner, five shot of the three-figure mark. Fortunately for India though, Kohli was in an equally unforgiving mood.
While Sharma kept the other end steady, Kohli slapped shots all around to notch his 26th fifty off just 27 deliveries.
Much like the Indian bowlers earlier, the Australian bowlers revealed some shocking figures with the likes of Clint McKay, Shane Watson and Faulkner going for almost eight-an-over.
Skipper George Bailey - who had earlier slammed an unbeaten 92 off 50 - could see his efforts with the bat fade away from memory as despite changing his bowlers, couldn't manage the breakthrough. The Indians walking home - many at the start of the chase expected them to stop mid-way - to level the series 1-1.
The hosts however would continue to be worried about the bowling as earlier in the day, Australian batsmen had also come out all guns blazing. Ishant Sharma in particular, was very expensive - his 9 overs going for 70. The top-five batsmen in the line-up slammed fifties and the visitors went into the mid-innings break confident. Their record though of having always won vs India after scoring 300-plus and winning twice after scoring exactly 359 against the same opposition, came undone. |
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