IND vs. AUS 2nd ODI: Men in Blue are reaping the fruits of hard work as they registered their second consecutive win against Australia to take a 2-0 lead in the ODI series. All the Indian players stood up & did their job to take India towards a marvelous 99-run win over Australia. However, what came as a major boost for the Indian clan was an outstanding performance from Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order. He is finally getting his mojo back after having a disastrous run in the ODI for a long time now. He issued a statement of intent & fearlessness by smashing green for four sixes in an over during the second ODI. In the process, he registered the third-fastest fifty in ODIs by an Indian batter.
In the 44th over of the innings, India was looking settled & was aiming to end the innings on a high note. And in the fixture that was already braced with excellence, Suryakumar upped the ante by smashing Cameron Green for four successive sixes. He smashed the prolific Australian all-rounder all across the ground. His first shot went towards deep backward square leg, the second towards fine leg region. While his third shot was a loft over deep extra cover & the fourth one was flicked over a deep wicket.
Even BCCI appreciated Surya’s knock through a tweet on their Official Twitter handle.
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The crowd here in Indore has been treated with Signature SKY brilliance! 💥💥#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @surya_14kumar pic.twitter.com/EpjsXzYrZN
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 24, 2023
Suryakumar registered his fifty in just 49 balls to become the Indian batter to register the third-fastest fifty in ODIs. The India to hit the fastest fifty in ODI is Ajit Agarkar who reached the mark in 21 balls against Zimbabwe in 2000. Followed by a 22-ball fifty by Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid & Yuvraj Singh. Suryakumar is gaining the much needed form in ODI which he failed to do in the last few ODIs. His total of 122 runs in the last two ODIs against Australia has given a headache to selectors as all their middle-order options, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav & Ishan Kishan are in blistering form & they are present in the ODI World Cup squad. Who can fix a spot in the Actual Playing XIs what time will say? Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav has 659 runs in 29 innings at an average of 28.65 & a strike rate of 105.60 with four fifties in 27 innings.
IND vs. AUS 2nd ODI: Gill, Shreyas & Suryakumar’s vital knocks guided India to a competitive total
Earlier batting first, Shubman Gill went berserk & registered his fifth ODI ton of 2023. While Shreyas Iyer roared with a comeback century to help India march towards a competitive total. Shubman Gill (104 off 97 balls) & Shreyas Iyer (105 off 90) laid the foundation for India’s mammoth total. Later Suraylumar’s unbeaten 72 off 37 balls braced with six fours & six sixes helped India to finally register a mammoth 339 runs total on board. Kl Rahul scored 52 off 38 balls to contribute to India’s gleaming total.
During the second innings of the fixture, rain played a spoilsport for the second time when Australia was 56-2 in nine overs. With the revised target of 317 runs in 33 overs, Australia failed miserably to chase the target with their innings wrapped up for 217 runs in 28.2 overs. For Australia, except David Warner (53 off 39), and Sean Abbott (54 off 36), none of the batters could actually hit the mark. As a result, Australia’s innings was wrapped for just 217 runs total.
For India R Ashwin (3-41) & R Jadeja (3-42) starred with the ball. They got valuable support from Prasidh Krishna who returned with figures of 2-56. The series win without their five main players in the squad was a big boost for India ahead of the World Cup at home.
The third ODI of the series will be played on 27th Wednesday, Rajkot. Notably, India’s mains will return for the third ODI while Gill & Shardul will be rested for the same to manage their workload.
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