ROHIT Sharma and Virat Kohli enjoyed a historic evening at the SCG as they denied Australia a series sweep on Saturday.
Rohit scored his 50th international century while Kohli went past Sangakkara’s tally to become the second highest run-getter in ODI cricket.
They added their first century stand since January 2020 (any format) and avoided the ignominy of a 3-0 series defeat.
This ODI batting clinic came after Harshit Rana’s four-wicket haul headlined a strong bowling performance that restricted Australia to a sub-par total. Matthew Renshaw got his maiden ODI fifty but batters around him were found wanting as India bundled out the hosts for 237.
Only for the second time in 27 ODIs as captain, Mitchell Marsh chose to bat first. The last time he did it, Australia posted 431/2 against South Africa last August. Marsh and Travis Head took on the trio of Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna – playing in place of Arshdeep Singh, in the PowerPlay to roll out the carpet for another big batting effort.
In the 10th over however, Siraj stopped Head in his tracks, shortly after he got to 3000 ODI runs. The left-hander attempted to cut a ball outside the off-stump but hit straight to Krishna at backward point. The scoring rate dipped a bit from here but Marsh attempted to throw Kuldeep Yadav off his lengths with two boundaries. But right after the drinks break, Axar Patel got one ball from round the stumps to go with the angle and hit the stumps to send the Aussie skipper packing for 41.
Matt Renshaw and Matthew Short kickstarted the next big alliance. Washington Sundar and Axar tied the two batters down in a tight spell of spin bowling, which led Short to attempt a breakaway shot. He reached for a ball on the off-stump and tried to sweep it away but hit towards Kohli, who reacted quickly and got behind the ball to take the catch.
Renshaw and Alex Carey got together next, and the scoring rate went down further. Kuldeep nearly ended Carey’s stay on eight when the keeper-batter decided to break the shackles by going after the spinner. He mistimed a big shot and hit straight to Krishna at long-on, only for the pacer to spill a simple catch.
Carey’s exit was eventually down to an incredible catch from Shreyas Iyer in the 34th over. He ran back from backward point, reached out and dived to complete the catch. In the process, he hurt his left rib cage because of the way he landed and had to go off the field.
Later, the BCCI confirmed an injury and that he was taken to hospital for further assessment. Just a few deliveries before this, Renshaw reached his maiden ODI fifty, but his exit a couple of overs later hastened the end of the Australian innings.
Sundar trapped him leg before via a review after Renshaw had charged down the track. Harshit and Kuldeep dismissed Mitch Owen and Mitchell Starc in successive overs to leave Australia down to 201/7. Krishna and Rana then mopped up the tail by the 47th over.
Rohit and Shubman Gill then gave India a confident start, soaring past the PowerPlay at 68/0. Gill then nicked one behind off Josh Hazlewood on the first ball of the 11th over to bring Kohli to the middle, expectedly, a rousing welcome. He did a mini celebration in jest after getting his first run and avoiding a hat-trick of ducks. He went on to bat for the remainder of the chase, and hit the winning runs in the 39th over.
Kohli was troubled early on by Hazlewood, and even top-edged a short ball that went to the vacant fine leg region but he soon locked in to bat comfortably in the partnership. In the 21st over, Rohit reached his 60th ODI half-century in the 21st over as the duo cruised along in chase.
Nathan Ellis came close to breaking the stand when they sent an LBW appeal against Kohli upstairs, but umpire’s call kept Kohli in the middle.
Soon Rohit showed a sense of urgency to wrap up the chase as he went after Cooper Connelly and Adam Zampa. Kohli got to his 75th ODI fifty, and a ball later, the 19th 100-run partnership between the two came up. In the 32nd over, Kohli scored his 14,235th run to usurp Sangakkara to second spot in ODIs.
An over later, Rohit reached his 33rd ODI ton. He then hit Short for a six and a four in an over while Kohli ramped a short one from Ellis to secure the nine-wicket victory. (Cricbuzz)