2nd ODI: India’s young guns beat Australia

Agencies

Visakhapatnam, 21 October 2010: Virat Kohli hit an excellent 118 off 121 balls while Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh contributed with solid fifties as India successfully chased down a target of 290 to take a 1-0 lead in three match ODI series at the floodlit Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ADA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, here on Wednesday.

 

Chasing a stiff target of 290, India got off to a disastrous start by losing debutant Shikhar Dhawan for a second ball duck when he was clean bowled by Australian pace bowler Clint McKay. Fellow opener Murali Vijay soon followed him back to the pavilion when he edged a McKay delivery to wicket-keeper Tim Paine. Vijay was looking solid but poor shot selection led to his downfall for 15 from 18 balls.

 

However, Virat Kohli changed the entire complexion of the match with a flawless century as he shared two crucial partnerships with Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina to put Indian on course for a magnificent win. After missing the Test series against Australia, Yuvraj Singh answered his critics in stylish fashion by hitting classy 58 off 87 balls which included five boundaries.

 

 

Young Suresh Raina again proved that he has got the metal by finishing the things of with brilliant knock of 71 for just 47 balls. He thrashed the bowlers all over the ground and hit nine boundaries and one huge six in his innings.

 

There were some nervous moment at the end when India lost Kohli and skipper MS Dhoni in quick succession however Raina steadied the nerves along with Saurabh Tiwary helped India winning the match by five wickets and take an unassailable 1-0 lead in three match series. First ODI was washed out at Kochi without a ball being bowled.

 

Earlier stand in skipper Michael Clarke returned to form with his fifth century to help Australia post a challenging 289 for three. Ashish Nehra evicted the opening duo of Shaun Marsh (0) and Tim Paine (9), but Clarke (111 not out from 138 balls with seven fours and one six) and Hussey (69) steadied the ship putting on 144 runs together.

 

Some big hitting by vice-captain Cameron White (89 from 49 balls with six fours and six overboundaries) -- with a couple of them straight ones through umpire Billy Bowden -- spurred the Aussie scoring as they scored 49 runs in the five overs of batting powerplay between 43rd and 47th overs.

 

Both White and Clarke were in a rampaging mood, Nehra, who had an impressive first spell of 4-1-3-2 had his figures destroyed towards the end as he returned with 57 runs from his 10 overs. The Aussie scored 114 in the last 10 overs, something that speaks highly of Clarke’s innings that had the shades of recovery and then the dominance.

 

Put into bat, Australia were clearly under pressure as the opening duo of Marsh and Paine were dismissed early by Nehra in an impressive first spell. Skipper Clarke and Hussey -- the experienced duo of the new-look Australia side -- did the repair work, building their innings brick by brick, In the end Cameron White’s big hitting helped Australia in reaching a fighting total of 289.