India v Australia, 2nd ODI, Kolkata - 5 Talking Points

India lead the 5-match series 2-0.

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Kuldeep Yadav celebrates his hat-trick
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Kuldeep Yadav celebrates his hat-trick. (Photo Source: Twitter)

After a thumping win in Chennai, a confident team India took on the visiting Australia side in the second ODI. Action moved to the Mecca of Indian cricket, Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The venue has always been a happy hunting ground for the home side and they hoped to continue the same in this game as well. However, the competitive Aussie camp came up with a strong fightback in the match.

Coming to the proceedings, the Indian team won the toss and opted to bat first. After losing opener Rohit Sharma cheaply, skipper Virat Kohli had the onus on him to perform in the game. Having failed in the previous outing, Kohli more than just covered up in the match. He was unlucky to have missed on his century though.

A fighting 92 from him combined with Ajinya Rahane’s 55 helped India muster 252 on the board. Kane Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile bagged three wickets each to rock the Indian innings. In the run chase, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a beautiful spell to remove both openers. Later, Kuldeep Yadav’s hattrick set up the base for India’s win in the game.

Here are the 5 Talking Points from the game:

1. Kohli-Rahane calm the weathering storm

Indian skipper Virat Kohli had no hesitation in opting to bat first after having won the toss. However, the hosts were rocked early by the dismissal of Rohit Sharma on 7. The other opener, Ajinkya Rahane, was then joined by Kohli at the crease. The two players played the new ball well and managed to settle down the initial nerves.

They took calculative risks en route their partnership of 102 runs for the second wicket. While Kohli played the uncharacteristic role of the supporter in the partnership, Rahane did the majority of the scoring. He scored 55 before getting dismissed. Kohli went on to complete his fifty as well and perished on the score of 92 in the end.

2. Coulter-Nile strikes hard again

Nathan Coulter-Nile was the most impressive bowler for the visitors in the first game. He continued his good form with the ball in this match too. He foxed Rohit Sharma to have him caught and bowled early on in the game. Later, he sent Kedar Jadhav packing on 24. But the big fish was caught when he took the key wicket of Virat Kohli on 92.

Albeit he was taken for runs towards the end overs, his exploits helped Australia to send India on the back foot at the key juncture in the game. He finished with figures of 3/51. He was well supported by Kane Richardson, who scalped 3/55 in his quota of 10 overs.

3. Bhuvneshwar rocks Australia early

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has become a key asset for the Indian team in the recent past. While the other fast bowlers have heavily relied on pace bowling, Bhuvi has shown what swing bowling could essentially do. Bhuvneshwar bowled an exceptional spell of fast bowling to keep the Aussies in check in the early overs. He accounted for the dismissal of both the Australian openers.

He bowled a maiden first up and then followed it up with a one run over. Another maiden followed. En route his first three overs, he dismissed David Warner and Hilton Cartwright for identical scores of 1. His figures read 3-2-1-2.

4. Kuldeep Yadav’s historic feat

Young chinaman Kuldeep Yadav is making giant strides in international cricket. He continued to impress yet again and went on to take a hat-trick in the game. The UP lad ran through the Australian lower middle order to put India in a commanding position. He became only the third Indian bowler in the history of the game to take an ODI hattrick.

The moment arrived in the 33rd over of the game when he dismissed Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, and Patrick Cummins. With the feat, he became the first Indian bowler to take a hattrick since 1991 after Kapil Dev. He returned with figures of 3/54 in his 1o overs.

5. Marcus Stoinis’ fightback and Australia’s shaky innings

After Bhuvneshwar Kumar rocked the Australian top order, the focus shifted to Aussie skipper Steve Smith and Travis Head. Both batsmen showed great character to settle in with the former scoring 59. Head also got 39 to his belt. However, team India bounced back with a flurry of wickets in the middle overs.

After Kuldeep Yadav bagged his hattrick, the Aussies were left reeling on 148/8. However, it was a certain Marcus Stoinis who kept them alive in the game. Stoinis scored an unbeaten 62 off 65 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name. He was unfortunate to have been left stranded at one end with team India bowling the visitors out for just 202.

 

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