Updates from the second One-day International between India and Australia in Nagpur.
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9.50 pm: Quite a see-saw battle — the second ODI — and evenly fought. It was touch and go at the death; a big blow or two from Stoinis could have given Australia the game. But India held on; it was a combined bowling performance — the wickets were shared around and spinners and fast bowlers (especially, Bumrah), played their part.
Giving away 15 over towards the end in one over, Kuldeep had looked distraught. But he came back to take his third wicket and precipitate a collapse from which Australia couldn't recover. The tail was wiped out in quick time.
However, it was only due to Kohli's effort that the bowlers' efforts had a tangible outcome. The Indian captain saw wickets fall all around him but fought it out in unsettling conditions to carve out his 40th century. It turned out to be a match-winning one.
So, India is 2-0 up in the five-match series. This was also India's 500th ODI win. The next contest, to be held in Ranchi, is on Friday, March 8; it's also a day-night game. We'll bring the action from that contest, too. Until then, it's goodbye.
9.28 pm: And it's all over. Shankar bowls a yorker and No. 11 Adam Zampa is bowled. India completes an eight-run win in a topsy-turvy encounter. And that completes India's 500th win.
9.24 pm: As Stoinis misses a mighty slog off Vijay Shankar, the ball hits him on the thigh of his back-leg. It's out; a review doesn't help. Is it the death knell for Australia? Stoinis departs for 52 (65b, 4X4, 1X6).
9.19 pm: Stoinis plays a lofted pull to leg, and the ball evades the diving Kuldeep Yadav positioned at square leg. The batsmen run two. Stoinis, then, tucks to leg for a single, before Lyon drives a delivery to deep extra-cover for another single. Lyon, off the last ball of the over, gets an inside edge off a full, straight delivery — a full toss — that goes between his legs and behind him for four. It's a welcome boundary for Australia as it needs just 11 off six now.
9.13 pm: Stoinis plays out five dot balls in the (once again) accurate over bowled by Bumrah. He tucks the ball to leg off the final ball to keep strike. 20 required off two overs now.
9.09 pm: Meanwhile, Stoinis keep playing coolly, keeping Australia in the hunt. Off a short-of-a-length delivery outside off-stump, he plays a late cut — a sign he is so set — off Mohammed Shami that races to the third man boundary. It was nonchalantly, expertly played. Stoinis takes a single off the penultimate ball of the over and doesn't opt to run off the final ball, to keep strike. It's still anybody's game.
8.58 pm: There is a twist in the tale once again. After a forgettable over, Kuldeep gives his team a reason to rejoice. He gets Alex Carey out bowled; the ball snuck through the batsman as he attempted to play the sweep shot.
And then there are two more. Bumrah dents Australia further by dismissing Nathan Coulter-Nile, the new batsman, out bowled. It was a casual stroke from Coulter-Nile as he had been looking to play the cut off a short-of-a-length delivery on middle-stump.
And then, Pat Cummins falls to Bumrah, too. He's out caught-behind. He gets an edge off a delivery on the outside-the-off-stump corridor and is out for a duck. India two away from victory now.
8.42 pm: It takes a brief moment to open the floodgates. Kuldeep's ninth over could be pivotal in the contest. It's certainly brought Australia in the driver's seat once again. First, Carey punishes a short, wide delivery to collect a boundary through the off-side, and then, he plays a slog-sweep — it's actually a cross between a sweep and a slog-sweep — in the third ball of the over. Off the fifth ball of the over, Stoinis goes down the track and hits a six through long-on, making it 15 off the over. Forty-four required now off 42 deliveries.
8.38 pm: Another quiet over from Bumrah. It's accurate bowling. Stoinis and Carey manage to take three singles. The required run-rate is 7.38 now.
8.29 pm: Jasprit Bumrah bowls short-of-a-length deliveries in the 40th over of the innings. It's a frugal over. Australia needs 65 more to win. A lot depends on Marcus Stoinis. He has wicketkeeper Alex Carey for company now.
8.26 pm: One of Kedar Jadhav's slow, low deliveries is put away for a four through cover by Marcus Stoinis, who once again lets out an amused smile. Jadhav is bowling from behind the stumps, and his side-on action is weird. So is his bowling.
8.18 pm: Jadeja gives India the breakthrough, that of the set Handscomb, but not via his bowling. Positioned at point, he unleashes a hard throw to the non-striker's end to catch Handscomb short; Handscomb had been trying to pinch a single. It was a short-of-a-length delivery from Shami, and Handscomb blocks it to the off-side. Stoinis seemed to be the one who was keen for the single, but proved to be fatal.
Handscomb falls two short of a half-century (48, 59b, 4X4). Just the ball before, he had struck Shami for a boundary through midwicket. Deep inside the crease, he had lofted the ball nicely to midwicket. Just like Vijay Shankar's in India's innings, it is a promising innings ending too soon.
8.10 pm: Three sweep stokes in a row for Handscomb, with varying results. Ravinda Jadeja is the bowler. First, he misses a full delivery that turns after pitching; Dhoni dislodges the bails but the back-foot is firmly planted within the crease and so there's no appeal for stumping. Then, he plays a similar stroke to get four through the area between midwicket and square-leg; it is a fiercely-struck sweep and the ball hits the sweet spot. To finish off, he plays another sweep, but this time gently, to collect a single.
8.06 pm: Marcus Stoinis has a smile as he negotiates the part-time spin of Kedar Jadhav. The deliveries keep low and he keeps digging them out. The required run-rate is more than six per over now. It's 153 for 4 after 35 overs. Ninety-eight more needed.
7.57 pm: Handscomb continues to employ the sweep; this time, off Kedar Jadhav. He collects two runs via the paddle-sweep first, and then plays another, but it is almost fatal. The batsman cannot manages a tickle to leg, and Dhoni almost holds on.
Meanwhile, just as the Indian innings started, Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost a chase! Click here to read more about it.
7.52 pm: Some nervy moments for Marcus Stoinis, the new batsman, as he deals with the guile of Kuldeep. Off one of the deliveries, the stock turner which is bowled too slowly, he is foxed and fails to put bat on ball. The ball sneaks through his defences and fails to disturb the stumps; Kuldeep has his hands on his head.
7.37 pm: Maxwell's scratchy innings comes to end as he is dismissed bowled by Kuldeep. The delivery pitched on a good-length and turned a little before crashing into the stumps; Maxwell tried to play a pull stroke, but perhaps was undone by the fact that the ball stayed too low. He is out for 4, off 18 deliveries, an uncharacteristic innings.
7.30 pm: Peter Handscomb has decided to play the sweep to Kuldeep, who has his hands on his head after the batsman guides him to leg for a second time. For he knows if he misses it, there could be a good lbw shout. Later in the over, there is a referral for stumping, but Maxwell is not-out as his back-foot is well grounded as Dhoni dislodges the bails.
7.23 pm: Glenn Maxwell is the new batsman. He awkwardly plays a couple of good-length deliveries from Shami, and fails to put bat on ball to a slower yorker that sneaks past the off-stump.
7.15 pm: A bolt from the blue for the Aussies — Marsh is caught-behind. It's a tame dismissal, off a wayward delivery from Ravindra Jadeja. He had been looking to turn the ball to leg, but gets an edge to the wicketkeeper. The ball pitched on a good-length and drifted to leg with the angle.
7.12 pm: Shami bowls his fifth over — a relatively frugal one. There are singles in the over, via pushes and nudges.
7.03 pm: A rare boundary punctuates a period of vigilance by Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb, the two new batsmen at the crease. Shami bowls a full delivery, and Handscomb seems to have dug it out, but it races to the boundary past the bowler.
6.45 pm: Khawaja also departs, falling to Kedar Jadhav's part-time spin. He tries to play an aggressive stroke through leg but gets an outside edge. Kohli, at extra cover, accepts the offering with glee. Australia two down now, in the 16th over.
6.37 pm: Kuldeep brings India the breakthrough. He had been probing away at Finch, and Finch succumbs. Off a full delivery, he tries plays across to leg via a sweep. He misses the ball, and is given out. Finch consults Khawaja and opts not to take the review. Australia one down in the 15th over.
6.30 pm: Kuldeep Yadav, the chinaman bowler, comes on. He gives away eight runs in the over, six of them via a six to cow corner from Finch — it was a flourishing slog sweep, but it's an entertaining over. Kuldeep brings out his googly, and beats the bat of Finch. Then, he has an lbw shout; Finch had been looking to play an aggressive stroke by bending his knee and swiping across. The ball hits his thigh on the back-leg, and the impact is outside the off-stump line.
6.22 pm: Vijay Shankar is the new bowler — he bowls gentle medium pacers. The set openers have no trouble toying with his bowling; first, Khawaja gets a delivery on the pads and he duly flicks to leg for four, and then, Finch hits a disdainful slap down the ground, and on the fifth ball of the over, he opens the face of his bat to guide the ball to the third man — for the third boundary of the over. It's 60 for 0 after 10 overs.
READ | Vijay Shankar is being noticed and how
6.17 pm: Two fours taken from Jadeja's second over. Khawaja plays a slog through midwicket; off the fifth ball of the over, Finch tickles the ball down leg for another boundary.
6.14 pm: Another slower ball from Bumrah to Khawaja, and this time Khawaja is ready for it. He waits for the ball to come to him and plays a flick to collect his third boundary. Then, he plays and misses at a wide delivery pitched on a good-length.
6.07 pm: Khawaja gets a short delivery from Bumrah and plays a disdainful pull shot for four. The ball was neatly struck as Khawaja raised one leg and swivelled to execute it well. The ball raced away in the area between square leg and midwicket. Bumrah responds to this by bowling a slower delivery; it was bowled full, and Khawaja awkwardly tries to defend the ball, which narrowly evades his bat and the stumps.
5.57 pm: Finch has two boundaries so far. Off Shami, he drives nicely to find a boundary through cover. Off Bumrah, against whom he hasn't looked entirely at ease, he tries to play a drive but gets a thick outside edge; the ball runs away to the third man boundary. It's 25 for 0 after four overs.
5.48 pm: Jasprit Bumrah is getting deliveries to seam both ways after pitching. Aaron Finch gets on on his pads and puts it away to deep midwicket to collect three.
5.43 pm: Welcome back. Mohammed Shami starts the proceedings for India, and he starts off with a wide down the leg side. Aaron Finch gets a good-length delivery that climbs up to his midriff, and he fends it away to leg for a single. Usman Khawaja, off the last ball of the delivery, helps a delivery on its way down the leg side to collect a boundary through fine leg.
4.59 pm: It seems to be a slow track, handy for spinners. Yadav and Jadeja could be handy, but they could have had a bigger total to play with had Kohli received more support from the top order. Rohit, Dhawan and Rayudu were dismissed after getting starts, and just when Vijay Shankar was proving to be an able ally, he was dismissed in unfortunate circumstances — a run-out at the bowlers' end.
If India is still alive in this contest, it's because of Kohli, who has grafted hard for his 40th ODI century. Will it be enough for India? Stay with us for Australia's chase.
4.55 pm: India has been bowled out for 250, the tail not sticking around for too long. Kohli's dismissal is the death knell for the Indian team; after he departs, Pat Cummins has Kuldeep is bowled around his legs for his fourth wicket, and Jasprit Bumrah, the No. 11, drags one on to his stumps to give Coulter-Nile his first wicket.
4.48 pm: Unfortunately for Kohli and India, though, that will be his last, as his pull stroke off Cummins results in his dismissal. Bad timing for India, as he would have looked to accelerate the scoring at the business end. It was a good-length delivery from Cummins, and Kohli swivels to the leg side to pull; he is caught in the deep. He departs for 116 (120b, 10X4).
4.46 pm: There's some frantic running between the wickets, by Kohli and Kuldeep Yadav, the new batsman. Kohli's mighty whip to midwicket off Zampa gives him his 10th boundary.
4.40 pm: Jadeja doesn't last too long. He doesn't time his lofted off-drive too well, off Pat Cummins, and holes out to Usman Khawaja at mid-off. It was a slower ball and perhaps therefore Jadeja couldn't time it too well. He departs for 21, India seven down.
4.36 pm: Jadeja pulls a delivery from Zampa and a rushing fielder from deep midwicket — Coulter-Nile — cannot hold on to the catch.
4.30 pm: A stylish stroke from Kohli — a lofted cut through point off Coulter-Nile — gets him to a century. It's been a patient knock from the India captain; he has eschewed flamboyance for solidity as wickets have fallen all around him. It's his 40th ODI hundred, and takes him 107 balls to get there.
4.28 pm: Maxwell's 10th over is a single-laden over. He continues to bowl from around-the-wicket to make the right-handed Kohli play. Kohli duly collects singles through the leg-side to move to 98.
4.19 pm: Jadeja plays a drive to long-on off Maxwell to get India the 200th run of its innings. India is in dire need of a partnership to take it through to 50 overs. It survives a scare in the 40th over when Kohli is nearly run out; he wanted a single after defending a delivery to point but was sent back by Jadeja. Kohli was a long way down, and would have been out had the fielder not missed the stumps.
4.09 pm: Kohli plays an uncharacteristically cavalier stroke. He slashes at a short, wide delivery from Cummins; the ball travels to the third man region for a boundary. Kohli moves on to the 80s with that stroke. Cummins, bowling his sixth over, sticks to short of a good length.
3.58 pm: 15 overs remain in the Indian innings and India is now 181 for 6. The Indian lower order, along with Kohli, would love to breach the 300-run mark.
3.54 pm: And nearly another one down. Lyon elicits a forward-defensive stroke from new man Ravindra Jadeja; Jadeja leans forward to smother the delivery, but misses it, and is nearly stumped. His back-foot was just inside the crease.
3.51 pm: Adam Zampa has two in two, and India is six down. First, Jadhav plays an inside-out lofted drive and deposits the ball straight to the fielder at extra-cover, and then Dhoni, off the first ball he faces, goes back to a delviery on good-length, and awkwardly tries to fend the ball on to the off-side. Instead, the ball takes the edge and carries to slip. Australia on a rampage now.
3.30 pm: A cruel way to end the promising partnership. Kohli gets a full delivery from leg-spinner Adam Zampa, and he plays his trademark whip-drive that travels straight to the stumps positioned at the other end. En route, the ball catches a tiny bit of Zampa's hand. Shankar has backed up too far and it out. Vijay Shankar departs for 46 (41b, 5X4, 1X6).
3.22 pm: Marcus Stoinis comes on to bowl his dibbly-dobbly medium-pacers, and is clobbered to midwicket, first for a four, and then for a six, by Vijay Shankar. The second stroke, off the final ball of the over, was a replica of the first. Both deliveries were short enough to give the batsman leverage.
3.13 pm: Fifty for Kohli. He plays a gentle drive through extra-cover to get to the landmark, off 55 deliveries. It's been a responsible knock from the skipper.
3.11 pm: A productive over for India, bowled by Nathan Lyon. The off-spinner sticks to a middle-and-leg stump line to the right-handers from around the wicket. Shankar deflects one of the deliveries going down leg to collect a boundary through fine-leg. Singles come easily and Kohli moves to 49.
3.01: A punch through point for four by Vijay Shankar, the new batsman, takes India past the 100-mark. Coulter-Nile is the bowler. Kohli holds the key here if India has to get to a big total.
2.45 pm: Rayudu's scratchy innings comes to an end. Of-spinner Nathan Lyon is the wicket-taker. He gets him out lbw. He tries to play awkwardly through the off-side, using his wrist to try to turn the ball perhaps to a vacant area; but he misses the ball, which hits him high on the back-leg. A review doesn't help and he's out.
2.38 pm: A stylish stroke from Virat Kohli through midwicket for a boundary; it's a full toss and Kohli takes full toll of it. It is a welcome boundary for India as it's been slow going otherwise.
2.20 pm: The run-rate's slowed down a bit after the wicket of Dhawan. Ambati Rayudu, the new batsman, tries to break the shackles by coming down the track to Cummins to perhaps deposit the ball to space. He manages to get a thick inside edge on to his pads. No run. Maxwell, bowling from around-the-wicket to Kohli lands the balls on to his legs, and Kohli responds by playing flicks for singles.
2.10 pm: Off-spinner Glenn Maxwell, introduced perhaps to take the pace off the ball, strikes for Australia in his second over. From around the wicket, he gets a delivery to pitch on a good-length on middle-stump and go on with the angle to the batsman Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan tries to awkwardly play a pull shot and misses it; the ball hits him on the knee-roll, and there's a huge shout for lbw. Initially, the umpire doesn't give him out; after a review, he overturns his decision much to the delight of Maxwell.
Dhawan's out for an attractive 21.
1.58 pm: Coulter-Nile strays on to the leg side, and Dhawan gently helps it along to fine leg to collect another four. India is 29 for 1 after six overs.
1.53 pm: It's a competition out there, as Dhawan unleashes two magnificent strokes for two more fours. Cummins is the bowler. First, he pulls fiercely, and then he plays a cut shot off the back-foot; the ball races to the boundary on both occasions. The outfield seems to be very quick for balls to travel.
1.49 pm: Virat Kohli gets off the mark, too, with a boundary — it's a smooth straight drive off Coulter-Nile. In the same over, he repeats Dhawan's stroke — the flick — but a little straighter, to collect a boundary through the midwicket region.
1.46 pm: Shikhar Dhawan and India are off the mark with a flick through square leg for a boundary. It was a full delivery, on the legs, and Dhawan neatly put it away. Nathan Coulter-Nile the bowler.
1.39 pm: Straight down the throat of third man, and Rohit Sharma's out in the first over of the innings. It was a short delivery from Pat Cummins; Rohit stylishly played an upper cut, and the fielder at third man duly swallowed the offering. India one down for no run.
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Toss and team news: Australia wins the toss and opts to field first. India is unchanged as Australia brings in Shaun Marsh and Nathan Lyon.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Aaron Finch (capt), Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Pitch report: The track looks ideal for the spinners and likely to crumble in the second innings. The side chasing would have a tough time.
12:50pm: The toss coming up in 10 minutes from now. Stay tuned to this space for the updates.
As the clock ticks for the World Cup, every single game counts for India. With just four limited-over fixtures remaining before the ICC showpiece event, India’s aim is to take stock of things and narrow down on the final squad that will fly to England. Read the full preview by Shayan Acharya.
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