IND vs AUS 2nd ODI: India thumps Australia by 50 runs; takes 2-0 lead

Shubhanshu Sharma
Published on: 21 Sep 2017 4:46 PM GMT
IND vs AUS 2nd ODI: India thumps Australia by 50 runs; takes 2-0 lead
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Kolkata: India rode on the back of a determined as well as aggressive bowling performance to seal a 50-run victory in the second match of the five-ODI series against Australia at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah started off with the attacking streak putting the Aussies on the back foot early in the inning while chasing a decent target of 253 runs.

Apart from being extremely economical, Kumar with his out-swinging deliveries bagged two early wickets in form of Hilton Cartwright (1 off 15) and David Warner (1 off 9).

Australia was two down with only 9 runs on the board when skipper Steve Smith and Travis Head cooked a 76-run partnership to consolidate the inning and help their team cope up with immense pressure maintained by some sensational pace attack.

Now it was the turn of spin attack to help India secure the match without any problems what so ever.

Yuzvendra Chahal joined the party with the wicket of Head who was looking good today during his 39-run inning. He took 39 balls and smashed 5 boundaries during the course. Bumrah, though, could not bag any wickets but was highly attacking with his bowling. All the runs (0/39, 7 wickets) he was hit for came either of the inside or outside edges of the bat.

Glenn Maxwell, who smashed two back to back sixes to Kuldeep Yadav, was stumped brilliantly by MS Dhoni when he was batting at 14 runs. Smith was next to depart at the individual score of 59 runs off 76 deliveries with 8 fours. He was dismissed by Hardik Pandya as substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja took a scintillating catch.

Matthew Wade (2 off 8), Ashton Agar (0 off 1) and Pat Cummins (0 off 1) were dismissed on three back to back deliveries as Kuldeep Yadav picked up his maiden One-Day International (ODI) hat-trick.

Nathan Coulter-Nile (8 off 20) and Kane Richardson (0 off 7) also could not keep India away from 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Marcus Stoinis, however, showed great character in his 62-run inning which came off only 65 balls. He hit 6 fours and 3 sixes in his inning.

Bhuvi bagged three wickets for just 9 runs in his 6.1 overs. Pandya plucked 2 wickets for 56 runs in 10 overs, while Chahal and Kuldeep managed to pick 2 and 3 wickets each.

It was another poor batting show with the bat by Australian batsmen as Indian bowlers never looked to loosen the grip over the match.

Earlier, an uncalled for run out of Ajinkya Rahane saw Indian middle order collapsing and only managing to post 252/10, despite being in a comfortable position at 120/1 in 23.3 overs.

After Rohit Sharma (7 off 14) departed early, a rare disappointment for the batsman at the Eden ground, Rahane and skipper Virat Kohli consolidated the Indian inning and added 102 runs for the second wicket at a healthy run rate. Kohli was also adjudged man of the match for his brilliant inning.

It was due to a second run call by Virat Kohli which forced Rahane to respond and throw his wicket despite being unwilling to take it from the very beginning.

Also Read: IND vs AUS 2nd ODI: Disciplined Australia restricts India to 252

Rahane got out after scoring a solid 55 runs off 64 balls with the help of seven fours. Kohli, however, continued scoring but could not complete his 31st One-Day International (ODI) hundred. He was cleaned up by Nathan Coulter-Nile at 92 runs off 107 balls with 8 boundaries. It was a rare occasion as the Indian run-machine doesn’t usually get out in 90s.

Manish Pandey also failed to capitalise the opportunity and was clean bowled by Ashton Agar at the individual total of 3 runs off 13 deliveries. Kedar Jadhav showed some fireworks during his short stay at the crease and added 24 runs off 24 balls hitting 2 fours and a six.

Former skipper MS Dhoni, who perfectly played the role of a mentor in the first match of the five-ODI series, failed to perform and got out after scoring 5 runs off 10 balls with one four.

Hardik Pandya, who played a sensational inning of 83 runs off only 66 balls in the first match to help India get 1-0 lead in the series, was unbeaten at 19 runs off 24 balls with 2 boundaries. He was accompanied by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (18 off 30, 1 four) at the crease when rail played the spoilsport in the 48th over of the inning.

As the game resumed, Kumar at 20 got out trying to play a big shot while Kuldeep Yadav failed to open his account. Pandya also could not accelerate the scoring rate during the slog overs and got out after scoring 20 runs off 26 balls.

Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson were the pick of the bowlers for Australia as they took three wickets each for 51 and 55 runs, respectively in their 10 overs each, while Ashton Agar got one wicket. Pat Cummins pocketed a wicket and remained extremely economical giving away only 34 runs in his 10 overs with a maiden.

Shubhanshu Sharma

Shubhanshu Sharma

Writer has 6 years of experience in digital media. Presently working as Senior Sub Editor at newstrack.com. An avid reader and always willing to learn new things and techniques.

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