Visakhapatnam, Oct 20: After rain led to the abandoning of the first ODI between India and Australia at Kochi a few days ago, the two teams finally squared off at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam today. The 50-overs-a-side match was a day-night affair.
With both teams using the series to give some of their untested resources an opportunity ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup early next year, as many as four debutants made their way into this game. For India Shikhar Dhawan and Saurabh Tiwary earned their first ever ODI caps, while Mitchell Starc and John Hastings made their ODI debuts for Australia.
MS Dhoni finally won the toss after a long gap and put Australia in to bat, a decision that paid rich dividends immediately as Ashish Nehra sent both Aus openers Shaun Marsh (0) and Tim Paine (9) back to the pavilion with the score at 16 runs. The Indian seamers, led by Nehra, continued to keep things tight as Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey tried to stabilise the Australian innings. But as Clarke and Hussey spent more time at the crease, and the Indian bowlers failed to break their partnership, the tide turned in Australia’s favour.
The Hussey-Clarke partnership put on 144 for the third wicket and by the time Hussey (69) was trapped LBW by R Ashwin, Australia had recovered strongly from the initial stutter. Even then, with the score at 160 for 3 in the 37th over and the Indian bowlers not giving too much away in the next few overs, it appeared that Australia would post a total close to the 250-run mark. But this was not to be.
Beginning with the 46th over, at the start of which the scoreboard read 205 for 3, Clarke and Cameron White tore into the Indian bowling attack. The last five overs went for a whopping 84 runs, of which Vinay Kumar’s last over alone went for a staggering 23 runs. Cameron White played a blinder of an innings (89* off 49, 6X4, 6X6), while Michael Clarke, under fire from many quarters after a disappointing Test series, led from the front with an unbeaten 111 to his credit.
Chasing 289, the Indian innings followed a similar pattern to that of the Australians for most part. Both openers, Shikhar Dhawan (0) and Murali Vijay (15), were dismissed by Clint McKay before the 10-over mark. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh came together for a 137-run partnership that set things up for India. The duo batted handsomely to drive India close to the target.
Singh’s dismissal for 58 runs with the score at 172 in the 34th over brought Suresh Raina. He looked like a man in a hurry and it certainly didn’t take him too long to get the job done for his team. His 71 came off just 47 deliveries, taking India home comfortably. But it was Virat Kohli’s stellar knock of 118 that set up the five-wicket win for the home team with seven balls to spare.
Brief Scores – India 292 for 5 (Virat Kohli 118, Suresh Raina 71*, Clint McKay 3-54) beatAustralia 289 for 3 (Michael Clarke 111*, Cameron White 89*, Ashish Nehra 2-57) by 5 wickets.
Man-of-the-Match: Virat Kohli for his swashbuckling knock of 118 runs that laid the foundation for a five-wicket win for India.
