KOHLI IN CONTROL
VIRAT Kohli (main picture) last night cruised to his 39th ODI century to propel India to a thrilling six-wicket win against Australia in the second one-dayer of the series at the Adelaide Oval. After a ton to Shaun Marsh (inset, above) guided the home side to a respectable 9-298 off its 50 overs, the Indians timed their chase beautifully to get home with just four balls to spare.
ANOTHER Virat Kohli masterclass has propelled India to a sixwicket win against Australia to square their limited-overs series at one-all.
Chasing 299 runs to win last night at Adelaide Oval, Kohli struck a sublime 104 from 112 deliveries as India reached its target with four balls remaining.
Kohli’s 39th ODI ton was followed by a typically ice-cool finish from MS Dhoni (55 not out from 54 balls) as India set up a series decider in Melbourne on Friday.
The Indians eclipsed Australia’s 9-298 highlighted by Shaun Marsh’s 131 from 123 balls in temperatures peaking at more than 42C. Australia’s concerns grew over captain Aaron Finch’s form slump: he made just six and was bowled for the fifth time in his past eight ODI knocks before Marsh and Glenn Maxwell (48 from 37 balls) boosted Australia’s total. Kohli then produced yet another gem after a fast start from openers Rohit Sharma (43 from 52 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (32 from 28).
India’s skipper is now 10 tons shy of compatriot Sachin Tendulkar’s world record for most ODI centuries — Tendulkar made 49 in 463 ODIs while Kohli has played 218.
After Kohli’s dismissal in the 44th over left India needing 55 from the last six overs, his captaincy predecessor Dhoni nervelessly steered the tourists to their target.
India required seven to win from the final over from Jason Behrendorff and Dohni smacked the first ball for six over long-on and then pinched a single off the next.
Earlier, Australians Marsh and Maxwell — again batting at No.7 and arriving at the crease in the 38th over — put on 94 runs from 65 balls.
Marsh now has seven ODI centuries — and four of the past five by Australians. A batch of batsmen — Alex Carey (18), Usman Khawaja (21), Peter Handscomb (20) and Marcus Stoinis (29) — failed to cash in.
And Finch’s torrid summer continued when he aimed a big drive at a Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-45) delivery but edged on to his stumps.
Finch was axed from Australia’s Test team after making 97 runs at an average of 16.16 in the first three Tests in the just-completed series against India.
Finch was also bowled for six by Kumar in the series opener last Saturday and struggled as well in the ODI series last November against South Africa, making 57 runs at an average of 19 in the three matches.