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Nagpur: Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli both scored centuries as India chased down 351 to beat Australia by six wickets on Wednesday and take the One Day International series to a decider.
Captain MS Dhoni hit the winning runs with three balls to spare at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here, meaning the seven-match series is now level at 2-2 — two of the games were washed out — with only Saturday’s fixture at Bangalore remaining.
As well as some rain from the skies, this series has also seen heavy downpours of runs, with four scores of 350-plus and two others over 300. Wednesday’s match featured four centuries, with Shane Watson and George Bailey taking Australia to 350 for six before India’s batsmen took over.
Rapid start
Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave the hosts a rapid start, with the opening pair putting on 178 in 29.3 overs before Sharma fell to part-time spinner Aaron Finch for 79 from 89 balls.
Dhawan reached his fourth ODI century at a run a ball rate, celebrating as though his team had just won the World Cup, but he was dismissed straight away when bowled around his legs by James Faulkner for exactly 100.
Kohli and Suresh Raina added another 56 to take India to 290 and at that stage they looked comfortable, but Mitchell Johnson removed both Sharma (16) and Yuvraj Singh (0) in the same over to set up a tense finish.
In the end it was Kohli’s brutal knock that made the difference, with his unbeaten 115 coming off just 66 balls. He hit 18 boundaries and one six.
Earlier, Watson struck 13 fours and three sixes in making 102 off 94 balls, while the in-form Bailey was equally impressive in scoring a career-best 156, his second ODI century, in 115 balls. His brilliant innings contained half a dozen sixes and 13 fours.
These two batsmen also compiled the second-highest third wicket stand of 168 in ODIs against India.
India started off well by sending back openers Phil Hughes (13) and Finch (20) before the score had crossed 50. But they were pushed into the back seat as Watson and Bailey launched a superb counter-attack.
The duo tore apart the bowling, which included three frontline spinners for the first time in the seven-match series after the hosts decided to go in with Amit Mishra to partner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Later, after the dismissal of Watson and Glen Maxwell (9), Adam Voges (44 not out) helped his captain add another 120 runs in only 80 balls for the fifth wicket on a good batting track.
While the 32-year-old Watson was all power, Bailey, who has been the team’s most consistent batsman in the series, once again dominated the home team attack to notch up his fourth 50-plus score in five innings.
India had the visitors in check in the first 20 overs by restricting Australia to 83-2, but the middle overs were totally dominated by Watson and Bailey, who compiled the second-best third wicket stand for their country against the hosts.
The 168-run partnership, that came off just 142 balls, was only second to Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn’s unbroken stand of 234 in the 2003 World Cup final at Johannesburg, and was the eighth 150-plus stand for all wickets against India.
— With inputs from agencies
Scoreboard
Scoreboard from the sixth One Day International between India and Australia at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur, on Wednesday:
Australia innings
PJ Hughes c Kohli b Kumar 13
AJ Finch b Ashwin 20
SR Watson b Mohammed Shami 102
GJ Bailey c Kohli b Jadeja 156
GJ Maxwell c Kumar b Ashwin 9
AC Voges not out 44
MG Johnson c Dhawan b Jadeja 0
BJ Haddin not out 0
Extras (w 3, nb 3) 6
Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 350 (7.00 runs per over)
Did not bat: JP Faulkner, CJ McKay, XJ Doherty
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Hughes, 6.4 ov), 2-45 (Finch, 11.1 ov), 3-213 (Watson, 34.4 ov), 4-224 (Maxwell, 35.6 ov), 5-344 (Bailey, 49.2 ov), 6-346 (Johnson, 49.4 ov)
Bowling: B Kumar 8-0-42-1, Mohammad Shami 8-1-66-1 (1nb), R Jadeja 10-0-68-2 (2nb, 1w), R Ashwin 10-0-64-2 (2w), A Mishra 10-0-78-0, V Kohli 2-0-15-0, SK Raina 2-0-17-0
India innings
RG Sharma c Faulkner b Finch 79
S Dhawan b Faulkner 100
V Kohli not out 115
SK Raina c †Haddin b Johnson 16
Yuvraj Singh b Johnson 0
MS Dhoni*† not out 25
Extras (lb 8, w 7, nb 1) 16
Total (4 wickets; 49.3 overs) 351 (7.09 runs per over)
Did not bat: RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, A Mishra, Mohammed Shami
Fall of wickets: 1-178 (Sharma, 29.3 ov), 2-234 (Dhawan, 35.6 ov), 3-290 (Raina, 42.2 ov), 4-290 (Yuvraj Singh, 42.5 ov)
Bowling: MG Johnson 10-0-72-2 (5w), CJ McKay 7-0-47-0 (1w), JP Faulkner 9.3-0-73-1, XJ Doherty 6-0-40-0, SR Watson 6-0-51-0 (1nb), GJ Maxwell 7-0-40-0, AJ Finch 4-0-20-1 (1w)
Toss: India
Result: India win by 6 wickets
Man of the match: Virat Kohli
Series: Level 2-2 after 6 of 7 matches
Next match: November 2 at Bangalore
Captain MS Dhoni hit the winning runs with three balls to spare at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here, meaning the seven-match series is now level at 2-2 — two of the games were washed out — with only Saturday’s fixture at Bangalore remaining.
As well as some rain from the skies, this series has also seen heavy downpours of runs, with four scores of 350-plus and two others over 300. Wednesday’s match featured four centuries, with Shane Watson and George Bailey taking Australia to 350 for six before India’s batsmen took over.
Rapid start
Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave the hosts a rapid start, with the opening pair putting on 178 in 29.3 overs before Sharma fell to part-time spinner Aaron Finch for 79 from 89 balls.
Dhawan reached his fourth ODI century at a run a ball rate, celebrating as though his team had just won the World Cup, but he was dismissed straight away when bowled around his legs by James Faulkner for exactly 100.
Kohli and Suresh Raina added another 56 to take India to 290 and at that stage they looked comfortable, but Mitchell Johnson removed both Sharma (16) and Yuvraj Singh (0) in the same over to set up a tense finish.
In the end it was Kohli’s brutal knock that made the difference, with his unbeaten 115 coming off just 66 balls. He hit 18 boundaries and one six.
Earlier, Watson struck 13 fours and three sixes in making 102 off 94 balls, while the in-form Bailey was equally impressive in scoring a career-best 156, his second ODI century, in 115 balls. His brilliant innings contained half a dozen sixes and 13 fours.
These two batsmen also compiled the second-highest third wicket stand of 168 in ODIs against India.
India started off well by sending back openers Phil Hughes (13) and Finch (20) before the score had crossed 50. But they were pushed into the back seat as Watson and Bailey launched a superb counter-attack.
The duo tore apart the bowling, which included three frontline spinners for the first time in the seven-match series after the hosts decided to go in with Amit Mishra to partner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Later, after the dismissal of Watson and Glen Maxwell (9), Adam Voges (44 not out) helped his captain add another 120 runs in only 80 balls for the fifth wicket on a good batting track.
While the 32-year-old Watson was all power, Bailey, who has been the team’s most consistent batsman in the series, once again dominated the home team attack to notch up his fourth 50-plus score in five innings.
India had the visitors in check in the first 20 overs by restricting Australia to 83-2, but the middle overs were totally dominated by Watson and Bailey, who compiled the second-best third wicket stand for their country against the hosts.
The 168-run partnership, that came off just 142 balls, was only second to Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn’s unbroken stand of 234 in the 2003 World Cup final at Johannesburg, and was the eighth 150-plus stand for all wickets against India.
— With inputs from agencies
Scoreboard
Scoreboard from the sixth One Day International between India and Australia at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur, on Wednesday:
Australia innings
PJ Hughes c Kohli b Kumar 13
AJ Finch b Ashwin 20
SR Watson b Mohammed Shami 102
GJ Bailey c Kohli b Jadeja 156
GJ Maxwell c Kumar b Ashwin 9
AC Voges not out 44
MG Johnson c Dhawan b Jadeja 0
BJ Haddin not out 0
Extras (w 3, nb 3) 6
Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 350 (7.00 runs per over)
Did not bat: JP Faulkner, CJ McKay, XJ Doherty
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Hughes, 6.4 ov), 2-45 (Finch, 11.1 ov), 3-213 (Watson, 34.4 ov), 4-224 (Maxwell, 35.6 ov), 5-344 (Bailey, 49.2 ov), 6-346 (Johnson, 49.4 ov)
Bowling: B Kumar 8-0-42-1, Mohammad Shami 8-1-66-1 (1nb), R Jadeja 10-0-68-2 (2nb, 1w), R Ashwin 10-0-64-2 (2w), A Mishra 10-0-78-0, V Kohli 2-0-15-0, SK Raina 2-0-17-0
India innings
RG Sharma c Faulkner b Finch 79
S Dhawan b Faulkner 100
V Kohli not out 115
SK Raina c †Haddin b Johnson 16
Yuvraj Singh b Johnson 0
MS Dhoni*† not out 25
Extras (lb 8, w 7, nb 1) 16
Total (4 wickets; 49.3 overs) 351 (7.09 runs per over)
Did not bat: RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, A Mishra, Mohammed Shami
Fall of wickets: 1-178 (Sharma, 29.3 ov), 2-234 (Dhawan, 35.6 ov), 3-290 (Raina, 42.2 ov), 4-290 (Yuvraj Singh, 42.5 ov)
Bowling: MG Johnson 10-0-72-2 (5w), CJ McKay 7-0-47-0 (1w), JP Faulkner 9.3-0-73-1, XJ Doherty 6-0-40-0, SR Watson 6-0-51-0 (1nb), GJ Maxwell 7-0-40-0, AJ Finch 4-0-20-1 (1w)
Toss: India
Result: India win by 6 wickets
Man of the match: Virat Kohli
Series: Level 2-2 after 6 of 7 matches
Next match: November 2 at Bangalore
