Kuldeep Yadav hattrick gave India a memorable win over Australia in the 2nd One day international played at Eden Garden’s, Kolkata just a few minutes. India batted first, could only score 252 in 50 overs with contributions from Virat Kohli and Rahane. Australia was going strong but Kuldeep Yadav produced a match-winning spell to give Men in Blue a great win.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat earlier today. Rohit Sharma and Rahane began the innings on a cautious note adding 19 runs before Sharma was dismissed for 7 by Nathan Coulter Nile. After that captain, Kohli and Rahane played with positive intent. At the end of 10 overs, India were 44 for 1.
Both the batsmen made the batting look easy by taking singles and hitting the bad balls away for boundaries. Virat Kohli completed his half-century in 60 balls while Rahane too reached his 50 off 62 balls. Rahane was run out by a brilliant throw for 55 which ended a 102 runs partnership for the second wicket. Manish Pandey disappointed again as he was dismissed for 3 runs. Kedar Jadhav played slowly early in the innings and then showed positive intent. Jadhav was dismissed for 24. Virat Kohli missed his 31st ODI century by 8 runs, dismissed for 92. Mahendra Singh Dhoni did contribute much today.
Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played important knocks for their team. Rain intervened for few minutes. Jasprit Bumrah added 10 runs. India was bowled out for 252 in 50 overs.
Chasing the modest target of 253, Australia lost both Cartwright and Warner at the score of 9 runs. Travis Head and Captain Steve Smith then played with positive intent, scoring 47 for 2 at the end of 10 overs. Both the batsmen continued to create pressure on the India bowlers. Travis Head was dismissed by Chahal for 39 in 39 balls ending a 74 runs partnership for the third wicket. Glenn Maxwell was looking with 2 big sixes but was brilliantly stumped by MS Dhoni for 14 runs.
The Australian captain Steve Smith completed his half-century off 65 balls. He was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for 59. Kuldeep Yadav produced a match-winning spell taking an hattrick dismissing Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, and Pat Cummins to break the backbone of the Australian team. The youngster became the third Indian bowler after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev to pick up an hattrick in ODI’s.
Marcus Stoinis played with positive intent hitting boundaries. Nathan Coulter Nile tried his best but could give him support. Stoinis completed his half-century off 58 balls and remained not out on. Australia was bowled out for 202 in 43.1 overs.
India 252 in 50 overs ( Virat Kohli 92, Rahane 55, Coulter Nile 3/51, Richardson 3/55) beat Australia 202 in 43.1 overs ( Stoinis 62*, Steve Smith 59, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/9, Kuldeep Yadav 3/54) by 50 runs
Captain and Man of the match Virat Kohli said: At the break, we thought that the total was not enough. Bhuvneshwar Kumar opening spell was brilliant. The wicket was not easy to bat. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled with great control. It shows that the competition for places will be great with World Cup 2019 in mind.
With this win, India becomes the number 1 side in ODI cricket and takes a 2-0 lead in the series. The third match will be played at Indore on 24th September.
