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After winning their first ever Test series in Australia, India would have wanted to take the early lead even in the 50-over format but it was the home team that drew first blood. A valiant Rohit Sharma century went in vain as the Aussies won the first match by 34 runs. In the second match, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni did allow that to happen again. While Virat Kohli got out after scoring his 39th ODI century, Dhoni along with Dinesh Karthik helped India reach the target of 299.
Just like the first One-day international, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first at the Adelaide Oval. Indian opening bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami - were exceptional with the new ball. For their tight lines and lengths, the two new-ball bowlers were rightly rewarded with the wickets of Aaron Finch and Alex Carey respectively.
After the twin wickets, the next two batsmen - Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh - added 56 runs for the third wicket. Just when the two left-handed batsmen were looking to extend the partnership an excellent pickup and throw from Ravindra Jadeja ended Khawaja's innings.
The fall of Khawaja's wicket did not deter Shaun Marsh, the determined southpaw went onto to stitch three more half-century partnerships with Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell. While Handscomb and Stoinis added 52 and 55 runs with Marsh for the fourth and the fifth wickets respectively, the partnership between Marsh and Maxwell was the biggest yielding 95 runs for the sixth wicket.
The Marsh-maxwell partnership took close to the 300 but an excellent finish by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami meant that Australia fell 2 short of the mark in 50 overs. While Kumar was India's best bowler with four wickets at an economy rate of 4.5, his opening partner Shami too was efficient as he picked up 3 wickets at an economy rate of less than 6.
On the other hand, debutant Mohammad Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav did not have a good time in the middle as they conceded 76 and 66 runs in their quota of 10 overs. The unavailability of the sixth bowler meant that India had to rely on only five bowlers and that allowed Australia to post 298-9.
During the chase, Shikhar Dhawan started off well by scoring 32 runs off 28 balls but threw away in the eighth over. His opening partner, Rohit Sharma spent a decent amount of time in the middle but he too got carried away and mistimed a pull and got out for 43.
Rohit's wicket ended a 58-run partnership between Virat Kohli and him, who was later involved in two more half-century partnerships with Rayudu and Dhoni. India were in complete control when Kohli and Dhoni were batting together as they added 82 runs for the fourth wicket.
Kohli looked sublime all throughout his innings and went onto bring up his 39th ODI century but a lapse in concentration after the drinks break ended his well-built innings. After Kohli's wicket, India needed 57 runs off 38 balls but the firepower of MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik took India home comfortably.
By scoring a 54-ball 55, MS Dhoni showed that he cannot be written off and the way in which he batted would definitely silence his critics. Karthik too redeemed himself from last match's failure by scoring quickfire 25 off 14 balls. With this win, India level the series and the Kohli-led side will look to assert their dominance at the MCG on Friday.
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