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Aussies suffer last-over loss in ODI thriller against India

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Expert
5th March, 2019
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Australia lost a thrilling ODI against India in Nagpur on Tuesday night, despite some late hitting from Marcus Stoinis.

The tourists entered the last over needing 11 runs to win off Vijay Shankar but the part-time seamer held his nerve to dismiss Stoinis (52 from 65 balls) and Adam Zampa (2).

It was a fighting effort from Australia on a slow, low, turning wicket which suited the hosts far more than the visitors.

Tasked with chasing 251, the Aussies stayed in the game thanks to Stoinis and Peter Handscomb (48 from 59 balls).

Handscomb batted wonderfully before some scratchy batting by his partner seemed to pressure him into a mistake. Stoinis was stuck deep in the mud, crawling to 11 from 28 balls, as the required run rate ballooned and forced Handscomb to change tack.

While Handscomb built his innings on protecting his wicket and piercing the gaps, Stoinis’ inability to score meant Handscomb had to start taking risks, which contributed to his run out.

Handscomb had shown his teammates how to handle the pitch. Wary of the low bounce, he made a point of playing with a straight bat to any deliveries on the stumps, even those that pitched short of a length. The only time he unfurled cross-bat strokes was the rare wide delivery he could glide behind point or, most commonly, when he swept the spinners.

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It was a lack of respect for the minimal bounce which earlier caused the downfall of Glenn Maxwell (4 from 18 balls) as he tried to pull a short ball from wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, only for the delivery to skid through incredibly low.

Australia had been flying at 0-83 from 14.2 overs when India were brought back into the match by two loose shots.

First, Aaron Finch (37 from 53 balls) premeditated a sweep shot and was caught LBW to Yadav. Finch had looked scratchy, but was helped by some unusually loose bowling by India.

The very next over, Khawaja – who had looked in supreme nick – played a lazy drive at an innocuous delivery from off-spinner Kedhar Jadhav and spooned the ball to cover. India suddenly looked energised.

Usman Khawaja of Australia hits a shot

Usman Khawaja (AAP Image/Paul Miller)

Earlier, Australia produced a disciplined bowling display and were thwarted only by a remarkable century from Indian superstar Virat Kohli. On a tricky pitch against some fine bowling, the skipper cruised. The ease with which the 30-year-old churns out centuries in one-day cricket is astonishing – his 116 from 120 was his 40th ODI ton, leaving him behind only legendary Indian Sachin Tendulkar.

When Tendulkar retired with 50 career ODI centuries it seemed like an insurmountable record, some 20 tons clear of the next best, Australian Ricky Ponting.

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Yet, at the current rate Kohli notches tons, he should break that record within about two years or so. If he plays until the age of 37 years old, which is entirely possible given his immense skill and amazing fitness, he may end up with as many as 70 hundreds.

That’s pure speculation of course. What is inarguable, however, is that Kohli is the best ODI batsman on the planet. He showed that again on Tuesday, he played the conditions perfectly, recognising that it was a tough pitch and so reducing the risk from his game and concentrating instead on piercing gaps and running hard.

Only 34 per cent of his runs came in boundaries, an extremely low number in this era, when so many batsmen score in clumps.

That low boundary rate was also an indication of how well Australia bowled.

Pat Cummins bowled quicker than he has in quite some time, consistently sitting in the 141-144kmh bracket and topping out at 148kmh. More importantly, he operated with precision and guile. His first wicket appeared to be a setup as he used a wide delivery to tempt Rohit Sharma, who obliged by feeding a catch to third man.

Pat Cummins celebrates

Pat Cummins celebrates the dismissal of Rohit Sharma. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

He continued to bowl cleverly before, late in the innings, removing both Kohli and the dangerous Ravi Jadeja with changes of pace.

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Cummins’ 4-29 from nine overs was the second-best return of his ODI career and was a welcome haul given the way he has struggled in this format over the past two years. Australia will hope he can now build on this effort and take some generous momentum into the World Cup in June.

Cummins wasn’t a one-man band, though, with Adam Zampa (2-62 from 10 overs), Nathan Lyon (1-42 from 10 overs) and Glenn Maxwell (1-45 from 10 overs) all playing important roles with the ball.

While Zampa was a tad expensive, he put the brakes on the Indian innings by dismissing in successive deliveries the in-form pair of Kedhar Jadhav and MS Dhoni.

Lyon should get further opportunities in this series, having mixed up his flight and pace. Maxwell, meanwhile, highlighted once more why he is a hugely underutilised bowler by getting the big wicket of Shikhar Dhawan and then completing a neat ten overs.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (2-29) and Kuldeep Yadav (3-54) were the difference.

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