नवीनतम
2nd ODI: Rohit, Shreyas shine as India post 264/9
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Rohit Sharma mixed a lot of grit with some grace to score a potentially career-extending 73 on a spicy track that formed the cornerstone of India's decent total of 264 for 9 against Australia in the second ODI here on Thursday.
Courtesy Rohit's 97-ball knock and his 118-run stand for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer (61 off 77 balls), India managed a fighting total after losing skipper Shubman Gill (9) and Virat Kohli (0) in quick succession.
Put into bat, India was jolted early on with star batter Virat Kohli going for his second duck and captain Shubman Gill also going back cheaply as Australian bowlers looked in command.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl first. India were unchanged, while Australia made two changes, bringing in Alex Carey for Josh Philippe and Xavier Bartlett in place of Nathan Ellis.
Gill fell on just 9 in the 6th over to Bartlett as he tried to shuffle down the pitch and tried to up the tempo. He ended up chipping a catch to Marsh at mid-off. In came Kohli, ghosts of his last duck looming large. Facing just his fourth delivery, the fear came true for the legendary Indian batter after he was trapped on the crease by the young Aussie gun Xavier Bartlett. The ball nipped back, trapping Kohli in the crease. The ball tracker showed it would have hit the middle of middle. It was the first time in Kohli's ODI career that he was dismissed for a duck in successive innings.
India were 29/2 after 10 overs with Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer on the crease, trying to steady the ship. Rohit and Shreyas, who represent Mumbai in the domestic circuit, then conjured a 118-run stand for the third wicket to bring back the visitors in the game. Rohit was looking in his elements and slammed seven boundaries and two maximums, before he was caught by Josh Hazlewood off Mitchell Starc.
Shreyas, who also looked settled, was the next man to be dismissed. He was cleaned up by leggie Adam Zampa as India lost their fourth wicket for 160 in the 33rd over. KL Rahul (11), Washington Sundar (12) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (8) did not trouble the scorers, as they all fell cheaply. India slipped to 226 for 8. Only Axar Patel, who was promoted to number 5, played his part of perfection and scored a useful 44.
In the end, a cameo by Harshit Rana helped India go past the 260-run mark. Harshit remained unbeaten on 24 off 18 balls, and he and Arshdeep Singh (13) added a crucial 37 runs for the ninth wicket.
For the hosts, Zampa was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with fine figures of 4 for 60. Bartlett picked up three wickets and gave away 39 runs, while Starc bagged two wickets but was a tad expensive as he conceded 62 runs. Josh Hazlewood bowled a superb spell but did not get a single wicket.
Australia would be looking to chase the target with ease and take an unaccessible 2-0 in the three-match series. The hosts had won the rain-hit first ODI at Perth.
Teams:
India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj..
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
