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.
Savage
Roar Rookie
I thought Australia were best side in odi's.After this match,i wonder if india are really best team in odi's(now they've also achieved no 1 ranking in odi's along with test),Which is very surpising as i've been severly critical of our odi team in recent past.There is no standout odi team in the world. our spinners kuldeep & chahal are already mentally tough.they are not afraid of being hit for sixes unlike our overated duo of jadeja&ashwin.Now,our bowling attack is among the very best in odi's.
Savage
Roar Rookie
exactly! i thought chasing 160 in 21 overs was pretty fair considering they have dynamic players like warner,maxwell.Run rate shouldn't have been big issue for aussies last match.
Rats
Guest
Again Aussie batting letting them down. That is where all their power house is. Bowling, which is supposed to be their weakness this series, bowlers have punched above their weights. Australia are usually a very good ODI side and plays smart ODI cricket, especially when they chase getable targets. Poor shots from Maxwell and Smithy. Yes, Smith batted well and one can argue he did his part. But he should have stayed till the end.. Mode of dismissal was sad. It was common sense, all it was needed was to keep wickets in hand, naturally Aussies would have got to that total by 47th over..
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Australia loose 3 wickets in one over to Kuldeep Yadav and about to loose the game as well. They were in a good position while Smith was playing. Their nemesis Kuldeep did a hat-trick in this process.
Stuckbetweenindopak
Roar Rookie
Clearly cartwhite is way ahead of usman khawaja in terms of technique and aggression. Hats off to selectors.
vikram
Guest
20-21 overs target is easy esant it DL isnt that bad either
Simon
Guest
We still look like a one day team that suffers from a lack of established batsmen and some poor captaincy in the field. There are players who can fix this, particularly Cameron White, but the selectors really do treat ODI squads as development opportunities.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Australia are 4/125 after 27 overs, if they can play till the end they will certainly win , for that smith has to stay till the end. he is now 54* in 71 balls.
DavSA
Guest
Just finished work and am hauling off home to catch the rest . Not looking great for Australia though.
doogs
Guest
great toss to win. rain on wicket at the end. night bowling. ball is moving all over the place. Great Indian bowling but almost unplayable. Wish we won the toss
Aks
Guest
Zampa should use crease more effectively. May be bowl from back of the crease, alter the spin variation, more stock deliveries plus few straighter ones ..
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
END OF INDIAN INNINGS 50.0 overs 252 all out. Kohli (92) Rahane (55). Some outstanding death bowling from Richardson, Cummins and Stoinis has restricted the Indian outfit, who, at one stage, looked set for a score well North of 300. Can the Australians avenge their loss in game 1?
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
WICKET! IND 9/246 Richardson to Pandya, he spanks one hard and flat straight to Warner on the long off boundary for a safe catch. The Australians will be so happy with this finish.
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
END OF OVER 49 IND 8/246 Cummins leaks only 7 from his last over, fantastic spell. Some hacking from Bumrah hurting his figures slightly. Last over to come.
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
WICKET! IND 8/239 The capitulation continues, one of the best keeper catches you'll see in a long time. Wade grabs Yadav off the bowling of Cummins!
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
END OF OVER 48 WICKET! IND 7/239 Richardson with ball in hand, and he takes a pole almost immediately. Kumar departs after skying one to Maxwell at long on.
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
47.3 RAIN IND 6/233 Oh no, it has started raining here at Eden Gardens. The players run off and the Australians will be elated with the way they've pulled this back... Sense of deja vu about this, however... Pandya 19 (24) Kumar 18 (30)
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
END OF OVER 47 IND 6/233 Kumar spanks one back at Pandya's head. Some concern but he is ok. They only take 7 off the over. Pandya 19 (23) Kumar 15 (27)
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
END OF OVER 46 IND 6/226 Has Australia found a new death bowler? Stoinis outstanding in that over - leaks 4. Pandya 18 (21) Kumar 10 (23)
Rats
Guest
Australian bowlers have really punched above their weights. These is good bowling performance. Hardly any loose deliveries, hardly anything on the leg side. Its time for Aussie batsmen to show support now. 270ish must be chaseable.