We at least need 330 to put some pressure on Australia: MS Dhoni

The Indian batsmen were up for the task again as Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane scored commendable half-centuries while the master of the previous match Rohit Sharma once again scored a hundred and a remarkable one. Rohit from having the inconsistency tag to scoring back-to-back hundreds in ODIs against Australia in Australia has matured as a batsman and in his role. The Aussie bowlers pulled things back towards the end of the innings and restricted India from posting an imposing total as the innings concluded at 308.

Australian chase began well as Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch constructed a 145-run partnership. Though both of them got out for 71 each skipper Steve Smith and George Bailey carried things on with conviction then on. Smith also departed four short of his fifty but Maxwell batted well to keep the charge in hand and on the last ball of the penultimate over Australia cruised to a 7-wicket win.

Indian opener Rohit was awarded the Man of the match for his fantastic knock though it came in the losing cause. At the post-match presentation, Rohit sadi: “It’s always disappointing to be on the losing side, no matter how many you score on a given day. Love playing here, the wickets are good. You get value for your shots. Once you’re in, you can play your shots. That’s what I try to do when I go out. It’s not too bad, it’s quite humid here in Brisbane. I’m sure it will be pleasant in Melbourne.”

Indian skipper MS Dhoni who must have been unsure of an answer as to why they lost for the second time in a row despite scoring 300+ said: “It’s a tough one. It seems we will have to score some big runs. Scoring back to back 300-scores is good. But looking at our bowling performance, we at least need to get 330 to put some pressure on the Australians. Most of the wides were not because of the swing. Even after the ball got old, we bowled a considerable number of wides. It takes the pressure off the opposition. Fielding was good from time to time, but overall we need to put more runs on the board. In the next game, we have to play more shots. We can be at the receiving end as well. At the same time, you have to go out there and enjoy as well. I think if we have to win, we will have to score 330 at least.”

The winning skipper Steve Smith had more to be happy about than to think of. Smith said: “It was good tonight. At one moment we thought that they will score 350, but the boys did a terrific job to pull it back there. Shaun Marsh played well after settling in and Aaron Finch didn’t panic at all when the runs weren’t coming. They got those good 70-odd scores and allowed us to play ourselves in. They did it in the last game and they managed to restrict them (on bowlers doing well in the death overs). It’s good pressure on us. It will be nice to keep it that way (talking about the lower-order not getting a hit). George Bailey was magnificent tonight, he also didn’t panic at all and played some stunning shots.”

Team India lost the 2nd ODI in a row and Twitter was in no mood to spare them – Twitter Reactions: Australia go up 2-0 in the series