JAIPUR, Oct 16 (PTI): An inspired India tonight pulled off an incredible nine-wicket victory over Australia in the second cricket one-dayer, achieving the second highest ever run chase in ODI history in what turned out to be a high scoring contest.
Chasing an mammoth victory target of 360 on a belter of a track at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, India crossed the line with a 40 balls to spare as records tumbled like nine pins. This is also India�s highest ever successful run chase as the hosts restored parity 1-1 in the seven-match series.
Rohit Sharma (141 not out), Virat Kohli (100 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (95) were the contributors for India.
Virat Kohli (100 not out) took a more than decent Australian attack to the cleaners with a fastest ever ODI century by an Indian and seventh fastest in the world, scored in only 52 balls. This is his 16th ODI century in 115 matches. His innings had eight fours and seven sixes.
Rohit Sharma (141 not out from 123 balls) got a well-deserved third ODI century while Shikhar Dhawan (95) again showed love for anything Australian but was unlucky to miss out on a ton.
It was a match where the Australians created a world record with their five top batsmen scoring half-centuries but the Indian batsmen proved they were better on the night.
The victory was built on two partnerships. An opening stand of 174 between Dhawan and Rohit followed by another 186 runs scored in only 17.2 overs between Rohit and Kohli. The duo put on 100 runs in only 62 balls.
The chase practically started in the ninth over when Dhawan, in his bid to break the shackles, hit Shane Watson for three successive boundaries.
In the next over from Clint McKay, Rohit got a couple of boundaries more as 26 runs came off these two overs. While Dhawan repeatedly charged out to the pacers piercing the off-side cordon, Rohit used field restrictions to good effect by lofting the deliveries over in-field.
Rohit hit Glenn Maxwell for a six over deep mid-wicket to bring up the team�s 100 and then got his half century with a tickle down leg-side off Xavier Doherty. If Dhawan muscled the deliveries, Rohit found a way to caress them to the boundary.
However, after reaching his 50, Dhawan upped the ante with some sizzling strokeplay before James Faulkner got him to edge one trying to hit one shot too many. His 86-ball stay had 14 sweetly timed boundaries as he missed out on what would have been a well-deserved hundred.
Kohli did not take time to settle down as he raced to a half-century in only 27 balls with four huge sixes. Whether hitting Faulkner over long-off or smashing Watson over deep mid-wicket, each shot came out of the top drawer as India steadily inched towards victory with minimum fuss.
Earlier, Australian batsmen yet again took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners as they scored a massive 359 for five, equalling their highest ever total against India.
Led from the front by their skipper George Bailey (92 not out), the Australian batsmen made merry of a listless Indian attack on a good track.
This incidentally is Australia�s highest total on Indian soil surpassing their previous best of 350 for four in Hyderabad in 2009. This total also equalled their highest ever total of 359 for two against India made during 2003 World Cup final in South Africa as well as 359 for four in a VB Series match in Sydney back in 2004. Phil Hughes (83), Aaron Finch (50), Shane Watson (59) set up the platform for skipper Bailey and Glenn Maxwell (53) to finish the innings with a flourish.
SCORECARD
Australia: Finch run out 50, Hughes c Dhoni b Ashwin 83, Watson c I Sharma b Vinay Kumar 59, Bailey not out 92, Maxwell run out 53, Voges c Kumar b Vinay Kumar 11, Haddin not out 1. Extras: (LB-5, W-5) 10. Total: (For 5 wkts; 50 overs) 359. Fall of wickets 1-74, 2-182, 3-212, 4-308, 5-347. Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 10-0-54-0, Ishant Sharma 9-1-70-0, R Vinay Kumar 9-0-73-2, Ravindra Jadeja 10-0-72-0, Ravichandran Ashwin 8-0-50-1, Yuvraj Singh 4-0-35-0.
India: Rohit not out 141, Dhawan c Haddin b Faulkner 95, Kohli not out 100. Extras: (LB-5 W-21) 26. Total: (For 1 wkt in 43.3 overs) 362. Fall of wicket: 1/176. Bowling: Johnson 9-1-68-0, McKay 7-0-64-0, Watson 5-0-47-0, Doherty 10-0-70-0, Maxwell 5.3-0-48-0, Faulkner 7-0-60-1.