Adelaide, January 15 (IANS): India rode on skipper Virat Kohli’s century and stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s controlled fifty to beat Australia by six wickets in the second ODI and level the three-match ODI rubber 1-1 here on Tuesday.
Chasing a competitive 299, the tourists banked on a collective batting effort from the top order, before a 82-run fourth wicket stand between Kohli (104) and Dhoni (55 not out) ensured the team’s win with four balls to spare.
Earlier, the Aussies rode on the batting heroics of Shaun Marsh (131) and Glenn Maxwell (48) to post 298/9 even after the Indian pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami shared 7 wickets between them.
Skipper Kohli contributed of 104 of his side’s runs as they successfully chased down their victory target of 299 for the loss of four wickets to send the series into a decider on Friday at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, clearly suffering in the heat, smashed a huge six to bring the scores level and reach his half century before scoring the winning run with four balls to spare.
“Very pleased,” Kohli said afterwards. “It was a really tough day. M.S. in the end was tired as well. We need a good day’s rest, a good day’s travel and then we’ll recuperate and get ready for the MCG.”
“I think we hung on really well,” said Australia captain Aaron Finch. “But when you come up against a side that’s in form like India … you know you have to keep taking wickets and when the old pro Dhoni is there at the end it’s tough.”
