India's Yet Another Massive Victory, Virat Kohli Became the First

India's yet another massive victory, Virat Kohli became the ﬁrst Indian to achieve fastest century By : INVC Team Published On : 16 Oct, 2013 10:51 PM IST

INVC,

Jaipur/Delhi,

India’s tremendous batting lit up the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on a brilliant night as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan buried the Australian attack with momentous performances that set up a memorable nine-wicket victory in the second ODI of the seven-match series.The pedestrian show by the Indian bowlers, who had earlier conceded 359 runs, was joyfully forgotten in the flush of an exhilarating victory that had its roots in some superb work by the openers. In accepting the challenge and crafting a well-paced chase, the Indians added a new chapter to their storied list of batting exploits.The triumph was shaped hugely by Kohli’s 16th ODI century, the fastest by an Indian — Kohli took ten balls fewer than Mohammad Azharuddin who brought up his in 62 deliveries against New Zealand in 1988. There challenge posed by the pitch — or the Aussie attack — was negligible, but the target was intimidating. Rohit, who hit his third ODI century, and Dhawan decimated the Aussies hopes with an amazing assault. Dhawan, reprieved on 18 by wicket keeper Brad Haddin who grassed the skier off Clint McKay, rekindled some memories of his Test debut at Mohali, when timing and his wide range of strokes took the wind out of Australia’s sails. After the ‘life’, Dhawan tore into the attack. So did Rohit, with a controlled charge initially and then with a flurry of shots that showed his character when faced with pressure. There was pressure, no doubt, but Dhawan and Rohit left nothing to chance and blazed their way to glory. Australia was flattened by Rohit’s innovative dominance, some of his piercing shots leaving the field standing. He grew in stature over the course of the innings, even as Kohli played his part to perfection as India scaled the peak of 360 to win — the same target it was confronted with in the 2003 World Cup final. It was a pity that the sections either side of the pavilion featured a sizeable number of empty seats. This certainly was not a performance to be missed for fans of this youthful team. India was ragged and indolent when it bowled, and short of confidence too, as Australia packed punch and purpose in its batting. Having elected to bat, captain George Bailey led the plunder of runs as the hapless Indians conceded runs to all possible corners of the field. Nothing worked for the Indians, nothing at all. The bowling was awful, to say the least, and the fielding an embarrassment on a few occasions. Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja felt the impact of the Australian charge that saw the first five batsmen notch up a half century each — a first in an ODI. The promising start by Ishant, pitching it up, belied for the mayhem that followed, as India looked mediocre as an outfit, unable to arrest Australia’s rampage. This was the second highest successful run- chase in the history of ODIs after South Africa made a stupendous 438, chasing down Australia’s 434 in 2006. Even as Rohit and Kohli rejoiced on the turf, the crestfallen Aussie bowlers reflected the deteriorating standards of international bowling. (Sport Sources)

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