India defeated Australia in the second ODI on Tuesday thanks to Virat Kohli’s 40th ODI hundred and Vijay Shankar’s all-round heroics.
The victory at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur gave the hosts a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.
Put into bat first after Australian skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to field, India were struggling at one point, with 171/6 on the board, after Kedar Jadhav and Mahendra Singh Dhoni departed off consecutive deliveries.
However, as he has done so often in his staggering career, Indian captain Kohli dug deep to score a sublime 116 off 120 balls and guide his team to a respectable 250 all out in 48.2 overs.
The knock meant that the 30-year-old is now tied on second position with teammate Rohit Sharma for most ODI hundreds against Australia. At the top of that list, of course, is Sachin Tendulkar.
Most ODI hundreds against Australia
| Player Name | Team | 50s | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 15 | 9 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 5 | 7 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 5 | 7 |
| Desmond Haynes | West Indies | 13 | 6 |
| Faf du Plessis | South Africa | 3 | 4 |
| Graham Gooch | England | 9 | 4 |
| VVS Laxman | India | 2 | 4 |
| Herschelle Gibbs | South Africa | 3 | 3 |
| Wavell Hinds | West Indies | 3 | 3 |
| Brian Lara | West Indies/ICC | 15 | 3 |
Kohli has also become only the sixth player to score 9,000 international runs as captain. The right-hander has taken just 159 innings to get to the milestone, which is the fastest by any player.
India defended their total and won the second ODI by eight runs after a tense final over in which Shankar took two wickets to clean up the Aussie innings.
Ravindra Jadeja was another Indian who had a decent outing, contributing with both the bat and ball. The left-handed batsman scored a crucial 21 and stitched an all-important 67-run seventh-wicket partnership with Kohli.
He then returned with the ball in hand and took the wicket of the dangerous Shaun Marsh, who edged one down leg to wicketkeeper Dhoni.
Jadeja has now become just the third Indian to score 2,000-plus runs and take 150-plus wickets in ODI cricket.
Not just that, Jadeja created one more record on Tuesday. The 30-year-old, along with Dhoni, is now tied in first position for most ODI dismissals by a bowler-keeper pair.
This victory for India wasn’t an ordinary one, it was the 500th ODI triumph for the country. Only Australia, with 558 wins, is ahead of India in this list.
Interestingly, Kohli has notched up a phenomenal run in India’s landmark victories over the years. The talismanic batsman has scored a hundred in India’s 400th, 450th and 500th ODI wins.
Kohli’s exploits on Tuesday also got him the Player of the Match award. It was the 50th time in international cricket that he won this award.
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