India vs Australia, second ODI in Rajkot — Watch every ball of the three match series live on Fox Cricket!
Adam Zampa maintained his stranglehold over Virat Kohli but it couldn’t stop India posting 6-340 against Australia in the second one-day international in Rajkot.
In reply, Australia is 0-10 after two overs with David Warner (10) and Aaron Finch (0) at the crease.
Zampa got Kohli for the seventh time in international cricket – and fifth time in the space of a year – but not before the superstar hit 78 in India’s must-win match to stay in the series.
After whacking the hosts in their 10-wicket win in Mumbai, Australia got a taste of their own medicine on a batter’s paradise on Friday.
On a pitch that offered nothing for the bowlers, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan hit 96 from 90 balls while KL Rahul’s 80 from 62 helped the hosts take 91 from the final 10 overs.
“An emphatic statement by India, wasn’t it? Send us in and we’re going to make you pay,” Kerry O’Keeffe said on Fox Cricket after the innings.
O’Keeffe also question Australia captain Aaron Finch’s decision to bowl first on a batting-friendly wicket.
“Call me a stick in the mud from the 70s, but you win the toss on a belter, there’s no dew, why do you send them in?” he said.
Mitchell Starc’s figures of 0-78 ended shy of his 0-79 he was hit for against England in Manchester in 2015, but he fought back well to go for four off his last over.
Kane Richardson took two wickets but still went for 73 from his 10 overs. Pat Cummins, meanwhile, had 0-53 off his 10, offering the hosts little as he was again one of Australia’s best.
Dhawan top-scored but it was Kohli’s innings that lifted the packed-out Rajkot crowd.
India’s master batsman manipulated the Australian bowlers with ease as Australia aimed for back-to-back series wins in the country.
At one stage Kohli hit Cummins for four through mid-wicket one ball from outside off stump, and then cover drove him the next ball to the boundary.
Kohli looked set to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record of nine centuries against Australia before he perished down the ground.
It took a spectacular catch to remove him, as Ashton Agar took the ball above his head and passed it off to Starc before running over the rope. Zampa also got the only early breakthrough, when he trapped a sweeping Rohit Sharma in front for 42 The Indian opener wasted a review on the way, with tracking showing the ball would hit halfway up middle stump.
The legspinner also had Shreyas for seven, going through the gate as the right hander got frustrated and swung hard across the line.
Dhawan had earlier set up India’s innings, narrowly missing out his century when Kane Richardson had him caught hooking to deep backward square.
TEAMS
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul (wk), Shereyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah
