Thursday, October 17, 2013

what a match! what a chase! what a win! - India!!

The second ODI between India and Australia played at : Sawai Mansingh Stadium Jaipur, saw Australia winning the toss again and electing to bat. Aussie Openers Hughes and Finch once again provided the start they required. The track looked like a good one to bat and the openers started scoring runs in quick time, the first wicket fell when Aussies had scored 74.  Brilliant fielding from Raina and a direct hit. Finch back to the pavilion. Watson who missed out in the first game was in sublime form this game, he and hughes added 108. Watson scored a quick fire 59 before he was dismissed caught over long on by Ishant. The Aussie Captain George Bailey had come to the crease and he was in a hurry to score runs and he was hitting every ball he faced, at the other end Hughes was calm and composed, this duo added just 30 runs before Hughes was dismissed for a well played 83. Maxwell known for his big hitting joined his captain and both were taking on the Indian Attack and Dhoni had no clue on stopping them, the runs flowed so easily for the batsmen and the Indian bowlers found hard to get their line and length. The hard hitting pair added 96 in just 8.3 overs before Maxwell was run out for 53 of just 32 balls. Captain Bailey scored a massive 92 of 50 balls and remained unbeaten. The Aussies had scored a huge first Innings total of 359 for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs.The bowling, Vinay Picked couple of wickets for 73 from his 9 overs and Ashwin picked one for 50 from his 8 overs.

Now, Indian batsman again had to chase a score over 300 and this time its going to be a huge task than the last game. The openers Rohit Sharma and Dhawan did not fail this time, the duo put on a opening partnership of 176 runs, This was the kind of start the Indians were looking, those runs came in quick time,26.1 overs. Shikhar Dhawan who missed out in his first game, was dropped while he was on 18 by Haddin and he did utilize that opportunity and went on to score 95 in 86 balls and the delhi batsman was dismissed without scoring a century, yet that innings made a huge impact on the scorecard. Rohit sharma was calm until dhawan was scoring, once dhawan was back to the pavilion, he took up the attack along with Virat Kohli. The Mumbai Batsman had scored a century during 2010. Rohit Sharma was in sublime touch, he was pulling and driving the ball so well and at the other end Kohli was on fire, he was hitting six’s and four’s now and then and both the batsmen made bowling difficult for the Aussie Bowlers. The run rate had come down to 4 runs an over and the last ten overs Indians needed only 40 runs. The way Rohit and Virat played was just more than awesome, in the mean time Rohit brought up his 3rd odi ton in style, this century certainly took a long time to come, and at the other end Virat was clinching towards his 16th odi ton and the fastest as well, Virat scored a 52 ball 100 and the fastest by an Indian, earlier Sehwag had this record, scoring a century in 60 balls against New Zealand. The target looked comfortable in the end for India, and India had successfully chased down a huge target and scored 362 in 43.3 overs with a loss of Just one wicket.
Rohit Sharma was adjudged Man of the Match for his 123 ball 141*(17 four’s and four six’s) The other contributions came from Virat Kohli, 100* of 52 balls(8 four’s and 7 six’s) and Shikhar Dhawan’s 95 of 86 balls(14 four’s)
What a win! What a chase! and the series is leveled 1-1,hope you all enjoyed the game! as I too loved watching. See you soon with an update after the Mohali encounter.

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