Anurag Kumar
Hundreds from Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer along with quickfire fifties from Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul led India to a dominating 399/5 before spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets to thrash Australia by 99 runs (DLS) in a rain-curtailed match at Indore and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
On a hot day at a typically high-scoring venue, India, without captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Virat Kohli, hit 18 sixes (their second-highest ODI total) to propel the hosts to their third-highest ODI innings against Australia. Jasprit Bumrah was given a short home break by the team management, but he wasn’t required in what was one of the most clinical performances in recent years.
What failed at Mohali due to a run out due to a lapse in concentration blossomed into a 200-run partnership for the second wicket between Gill and Iyer off only 164 deliveries, setting India up for a mammoth score. Suryakumar smashed 72 runs unbeaten off 37 deliveries, and Rahul, the stand-in captain, scored 52 runs off 38 balls to heap misery on Australia.
Gill, who scored 74 off 63 deliveries in Mohali, reached his fifth ODI century of the year with 104, which included six fours and four sixes. It was also Gill’s second consecutive century at Indore; earlier this year, he scored 112 off 78 deliveries against New Zealand. Early on, Gill had nine runs off 19 deliveries, but he and Iyer quickly added 50 runs off 29 balls. Once the field was dispersed, they had no trouble rotating the strike and consolidating India’s 158-run start in the first 20 overs.
Iyer scored his third ODI century in the 30th over before being caught at deep midwicket in the following over. Gill was dismissed in the 35th over, but India’s run rate did not decrease due to Ishan Kishan’s aggressive strokes around the wicket.
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Suryakumar Yadav started off a bit sluggishly, but he soon began slamming boundaries all around the pitch, completely unsettling an already rudderless Australian bowling attack that was missing Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis. Rahul was also in his element, dismissing Sean Abbott for 17 runs in the 47th over en route to his second fifty of the series off only 24 deliveries. India scored 103 runs during the last ten overs.
Wednesday’s final ODI will be contested in Rajkot.
