Australia pulled off a brilliant win at Mohali in the highest successful run chase against India ever to register a win and level the ODI series at two all. Despite India setting up a stiff target of 359 runs to get on a batsman-friendly wicket, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner batted brilliantly to give Australia a four-wicket victory. This is Australia’s fourth successive victory over India at Mohali.
Aaron Finch got out early when Australia batted to Bhubaneshwar Kumar. When Shaun Marsh was dismissed by Jasprit Burmah, it looked as though Australia would give in without a fight. But Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb put down their heads and started rebuilding the Australian innings, farming the bowling and dispatching the loose balls on a good batting track. The two put together a partnership of 192 runs before Usman Khawaja was dismissed on 91 runs.
Earlier India rode on both their opening batsmen returning to form. Shikhar Dhawan was his old imperial self and played some delightful shots all around the wicket. The pair put together 193 runs for the first wicket before Rohit Sharma was caught by Handscomb off a Jhye Richardson delivery. Shikhar Dhawan was the next to go having scored a career-best 143 runs off 115 balls. India was 2 wickets down for 254 runs off almost 40 overs at this stage.
Adam Zampa accounted for KL Rahul (26) while Virat Kohli (7) fell to a catch by Alex Carey off Jhye Richardson. But Pat Cummins got the wickets of Rishab Pant (36), Kedar Jadhav (10) and Vijay Shankar (26) to limit what could be a score in excess of 380. The Indian innings folded soon afterwards when Cummins accepted a return catch from Yazuvendra Chahal. Pat Cummins finished the match with career-best figures of 5 wickets for 70 runs.
The asking rate was mounting all the time for Australia when Khawaja and Handscomb where batting. Glen Maxwell came in at the fall of Usman Khawaja’s wicket and played a cameo scoring 23 runs off 13 balls. When Maxwell got out Australia needed 110 runs at almost 8 runs per over. That is when Aston Turner arrived at the crease. The dew had begun to fall now and the Indian bowlers, as well as the fielders, were finding it difficult to grip the ball. A good batting track to start with, the wicket had become even better because the wet ball wouldn’t get a grip on the surface.
Hands Comb had earlier gone after Jadhav earlier, hitting him for two sixes and a four in the 33rd over. Turner, who has acquired a reputation in the recently concluded BBL as a good finisher, took it upon himself to see Australia home. Playing in only his second ODI, in place of an injured Marcus Stoinis, he blasted an astonishing 84 runs off 43 balls. His inning was studded with 6 sixes and 5 fours. Alex Carey ably supported him scoring 21 runs off 15 balls before he was dismissed by Bumrah. Australia got to the target with 13 balls to spare.
While Kohli had miss read the situation in Ranchi, expecting dew in the evening, here too he did not anticipate the amount of dew that would fall. The Indian fielding was in disarray with Shikhar Dhawan dropping a straight chance and Rishab Pant floundering on two occasions. The bowlers found it difficult to grip the ball and the ball was coming better on to the bat than it was in the afternoon. The positive that India can take away from this match is the return to form of Shikhar Dhawan, particularly with the team relying on the top three to perform when they bat.
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