Men in Blue show who’s the boss
18 Oct 2013 5:17 AM IST
An inspired India on Wednesday pulled off an incredible nine-wicket victory over Australia in the second cricket one-dayer, achieving the second highest ever run chase in ODI history in what turned out to be a high scoring contest.
Chasing an mammoth victory target of 360 on a belter of a track at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, India crossed the line with 40 balls to spare as records tumbled like nine pins. This is also India’s highest ever successful run chase as the hosts restored parity 1-1 in the seven-match series.
Rohit Sharma (141 not out), Virat Kohli (100 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (95) were the main contributors for India. Kohli took a more than decent Australian attack to the task with the fastest ever ODI century by an Indian, seventh overall, which he notched up in just 52 balls. This is his 16th ODI century in 115 matches. His innings had eight fours and seven sixes.
Rohit Sharma (141 not out from 123 balls) got a well-deserved third ODI century while Shikhar Dhawan (95) again showed love for anything Australian but was unlucky to miss out on a ton. It was a match where the Australians created a world record with their five top batsmen scoring half-centuries but the Indian batsmen proved they were better on the night.
The Australians now have the ignominy of ending second best in two highest run-chases having faced similar fate against Herschelle Gibbs’ South Africa seven years back, when they failed to defend a mammoth score of 434.
Indian batting’s ‘Gen-Next’ troika showed why they are not afraid of any target and reasserted India’s supremacy in the 50-over format. While bowling continues to be a worrying factor for skipper MS Dhoni, he should at least feel happy that Kohli along with Rohit and Shikhar are ready to take the legacy of Indian batting forward in the next decade.
Earlier, Australia batsmen yet again took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners as they scored a massive 359 for five, equaling their highest ever total against India. Led from the front by their skipper George Bailey (92*), Australia made merry of a listless attack on a good track.
One of our best show: MS Dhoni
JAIPUR: India captain MS Dhoni on Wednesday described his side’s second ever highest successful run chase in ODI history against Australia as one of the best performances with his young players showing controlled aggression. ‘I think this has got to be one of the best you can see. Irrespective of the rule change, field restrictions and the pitch, I said 360 was still going to be a tall chase. I knew that we can chase down the target. Once we had scored 411 but Sri Lanka chased it down (at Rajkot in 2009). So I told the players not to look at the target and just go and play. Shikhar batted very well, Kohli was amazing, Rohit got a big knock,’he said,’ Dhoni said after the match.
OZ batsmen set new ODI record
Jaipur: Australia batsmen set a new record with their top five compiling individual half centuries. For the first time in ODIs, top five Australia batsmen, A Finch (50), P Hughes (83), S Watson (59), G Bailey (92*) and G Maxwell (53), scored fifties. It’s also only the second occasion of five batsmen scoring fifties in an ODI. Pakistan (N Jamshed (61), Y Khan (79), M Yousuf (72), S Malik (63) and Misbah (55), achieved the feat against Zimbabwe in at Karachi on 21, January 2008.
Chasing an mammoth victory target of 360 on a belter of a track at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, India crossed the line with 40 balls to spare as records tumbled like nine pins. This is also India’s highest ever successful run chase as the hosts restored parity 1-1 in the seven-match series.
Rohit Sharma (141 not out), Virat Kohli (100 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (95) were the main contributors for India. Kohli took a more than decent Australian attack to the task with the fastest ever ODI century by an Indian, seventh overall, which he notched up in just 52 balls. This is his 16th ODI century in 115 matches. His innings had eight fours and seven sixes.
Rohit Sharma (141 not out from 123 balls) got a well-deserved third ODI century while Shikhar Dhawan (95) again showed love for anything Australian but was unlucky to miss out on a ton. It was a match where the Australians created a world record with their five top batsmen scoring half-centuries but the Indian batsmen proved they were better on the night.
The Australians now have the ignominy of ending second best in two highest run-chases having faced similar fate against Herschelle Gibbs’ South Africa seven years back, when they failed to defend a mammoth score of 434.
Indian batting’s ‘Gen-Next’ troika showed why they are not afraid of any target and reasserted India’s supremacy in the 50-over format. While bowling continues to be a worrying factor for skipper MS Dhoni, he should at least feel happy that Kohli along with Rohit and Shikhar are ready to take the legacy of Indian batting forward in the next decade.
Earlier, Australia batsmen yet again took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners as they scored a massive 359 for five, equaling their highest ever total against India. Led from the front by their skipper George Bailey (92*), Australia made merry of a listless attack on a good track.
One of our best show: MS Dhoni
JAIPUR: India captain MS Dhoni on Wednesday described his side’s second ever highest successful run chase in ODI history against Australia as one of the best performances with his young players showing controlled aggression. ‘I think this has got to be one of the best you can see. Irrespective of the rule change, field restrictions and the pitch, I said 360 was still going to be a tall chase. I knew that we can chase down the target. Once we had scored 411 but Sri Lanka chased it down (at Rajkot in 2009). So I told the players not to look at the target and just go and play. Shikhar batted very well, Kohli was amazing, Rohit got a big knock,’he said,’ Dhoni said after the match.
OZ batsmen set new ODI record
Jaipur: Australia batsmen set a new record with their top five compiling individual half centuries. For the first time in ODIs, top five Australia batsmen, A Finch (50), P Hughes (83), S Watson (59), G Bailey (92*) and G Maxwell (53), scored fifties. It’s also only the second occasion of five batsmen scoring fifties in an ODI. Pakistan (N Jamshed (61), Y Khan (79), M Yousuf (72), S Malik (63) and Misbah (55), achieved the feat against Zimbabwe in at Karachi on 21, January 2008.
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