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India have taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match One-day series against Australia after a remarkable hat-trick to spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav.
India batted first and posted a modest 252 thanks to a captain’s knock from Virat Kohli (92).
Australian captain Steve Smith responded with 59 but the visitors lost wickets at crucial times including three in a row when Kuldeep tore through Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins.
It meant Australia still needed 105 with two wickets in hand. Marcus Stoinis fought valiantly for 62 not out but he ran out of partners and Australia fell 50 runs short with more than six overs still remaining.
Final score
India 252 (Kohli 92, Rahane 55, Coulter-Nile 3-51, Richardson 3-55) beat Australia 202 (Stoinis 62*, Smith 59, Bhuvneshwar 3-9, Kuldeep 3-54) by 50 runs
Australia will be looking to put an end to their awful run of overseas ODI form when they clash with an imperious Indian outfit in Kolkata tonight. Join The Roar for a live blog from 6pm AEST.
Australia and India have a rich history of close contests, fiery encounters, and everything in between. As an audience, we should expect nothing less in the second edition of the five-match series at Eden Gardens tonight.
A few nights ago, the Australians had a wonderful opportunity to right the recent wrongs of their away ODI record after a wonderful spell of fast bowling from the resurgent Nathan Coulter-Nile.
When Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Manish Pandey all departed within seven balls of one another, India were flailing at 4/30 and firmly on the ropes.
Pandya and MS Dhoni then combined for a match-saving partnership, the former in particular dealing the Australian attack to a series of mammoth blows.
Whilst the game was rain affected, the Australians would’ve been disappointed to crumble in their response, with only Glenn Maxwell standing up in the chase.
Tonight’s fixture should be another belter. The Indian team looks likely to change slightly, Kedar Jadhav the likely replacement for a desperately out of form Manish Pandey. The Indians have one of the most dangerous top orders in world cricket, and a bowling cartel to match.
Their record at Eden Gardens is outstanding, and are the deserved favourites going into this one.
Where the game will be won
The top order. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma rarely fail twice in a row, and the latter’s average at Eden Gardens is a Bradman-esque 99.50.
If Cummins and Coulter-Nile don’t make early inroads on a pitch that supposedly will offer more seam movement than that in game one, it could be a long evening for the Aussies.
That being said, David Warner has played a lot of limited overs cricket in India with the IPL, and is no stranger to the noise and atmosphere of a rocking Eden Gardens.
If he and Travis Head can get the Australians off to a flyer, they have two of the best one day batsmen in the world in Maxwell and Smith to finish the job.
I think India look a little too strong here, however.
India in a tight one.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 6pm AEST.
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