London: Shikhar Dhawan’s ((117, 109b, 17×4) brilliant knock and fine half centuries by skipper Virat Kohli (82, 77b, 4×4, 2×6) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (57, 70b, 3×4, 1×6) helped India beat Australia by 36 runs runs at the Oval here Sunday. Opting to bat after winning the toss India put on an imposing score of 352 for five in 50 overs. And then when they bowled they restricted the Australians to 316 all out to emerge triumphant in this crucial World cup encounter.
Australia were never in the hunt because they took too many deliveries to settle down. Except for wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey (55, 35b, 5×4, 1×6) and Steve Smith (69, 70b, 5×4, 1×6), none of the other batters showed the urgency that one requires while chasing a target which required a run rate of over seven an over. By the 35th over it had climbed to over 11 runs per over.
For India it was once more Jasprit Bumarh (3/61) who shone with the ball. It was death bowling at its best as Bumrah bowling the 49th over to Carey, just conceded a single run… something unthinkable in modern-day ODI cricket. India’s other wicket-takers were Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/50) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/62).
Chasing 353 requires a brisk start and that is where Australian opener came David Warner (56, 84b, 5×4) came unstuck. It put a lot of pressure on the other Aussie batsmen and they perished trying to match up to the run rate, Aaron Finch (35) tried his best to accelerate, but it was difficult on a pitch which had variable bounce.
The other thing that went Australia’s way was the inability of their batters to bat long. Usman Khawaja (42, 39b, 4×4, 1×6) threw away his wicket after a good start and then when Smith and Marcus Stoinis were dismissed in quick succession, the Australians reduced to 244 for six from 202 for two, were looking down the barrel. That they managed to reach 316 was solely because of Carey.
Earlier, Dhawan’s stylish hundred formed the cornerstone of a fantastic batting display by India. The left-handed opener’s 17th ODI hundred was well complemented by fellow opener Rohit Sharma (57, 70b, 3×4, 1×6) and the two put on 127 runs for the first wicket to put India on a solid pedestal.
After Rohit’s dismissal the consistent Kohli (82, 77b, 4×4, 2×6) shared a 92-run stand with Dhawan. The Indian skipper’s sixes off Mitchell Starc — over long-on and extra cover — stood out.
The last 10 overs yielded India 116 runs, primarily due to Hardik Pandya’s (48, 27b, 4×4, 3×6) whirlwind knock balls and a Mahendra Singh Dhoni (27, 14b, 3×4, 1×6) cameo.
Floater Pandya played in a manner only he can while Dhoni did his bit in putting the finishing touches, which included a six over square-leg off Starc.
What worked brilliantly for Indian batsmen was the manner in which they planned which of the bowlers they wanted to go after. They took 157 runs from 20 overs bowled by Marcus Stoinis (2/62 in 7 overs), Adam Zampa (0/50 in 6 overs) and Glenn Maxwell (0/45 in 7 overs).
India innings
Rohit Sharma c Carey b Coulter-Nile 57, Shikhar Dhawan c (sub) Lyon b Starc 117, Virat Kohli c Cummins b Stoinis 82, Hardik Pandya c Finch b Cummins 48, MS Dhoni c & b Stoinis 27, KL Rahul n o 11, Kedar Jadhav n o 0; Extras: (lb-3, w-7) 10; Total: 352/5;
Fall: 1/127 (Rohit), 2/220 (Dhawan), 3/301 (Pandya), 4/338 (Dhoni), 5/348 (Kohli);
Bowling: Pat Cummins 10-0-55-1, Mitchell Starc 10-0-74-1, Nathan Coulter-Nile 10-1-63-1, Glenn Maxwell 7-0-45-0, Adam Zampa 6-0-50-0, Marcus Stoinis 7-0-62-2.
Australia innings:
David Warner c Kumar b Chahal 56, Aaron Finch r o 36, Steve Smith lbw b Bhuvneshwar 69, Usman Khawaja b Bumrah 42, Glenn Maxwell c sub (Jadeja) b Chahal 28, MP Stoinis b Bhuvneshwar 0, Alex Carey 55 n o, Nathan Coulter-Nile c Kohli b Bumrah 4, Pat Cummins c Dhoni b Bumrah 8, Mitchell Starc r o 3, Adam Zampa c sub (Jadeja) b Kumar 1; Extras: (b-3, lb-3, nb-1, w-7) 14; Total: 316 all out
Fall: 1/61 (Finch), 2/133 (Warner), 3/202 (Khawaja), 4/238 (Smith), 5/238 (Stoinis), 6/244 (Maxwell), 7/283 (Coulter-Nile), 8/300 (Cummins), 9/313 (Starc), 10/316 (Zampa)
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 10-0-50-3, Jasprit Bumrah 10-1-61-3, Hardik Pandya 10-0-68-0, Kuldeep Yadav 9-0-55-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 10-0-62-2, Kedar Jadhav 1-0-14-0.