Rohit Sharma’s century went in vain once again as Australia chased down 309 with an over to spare in the second ODI at the Gabba. After winning the toss and choosing to bat, India looked on course for a total in excess of 320 but ended up with just 308 after losing a flurry of wickets towards the end.
Rohit Sharma’s 124 and 89 from Ajinkya Rahane helped India cross 300, but a lacklustre end to the innings meant they fell at least 20 runs short of the target they would have wanted.
Chasing another 300+ total, Australia got off to the perfect start as the openers Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh put on 145 for the first wicket. From then onwards, it was just a question of how long it would take for the hosts to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Although Marsh and Finch both departed for 71 in relatively quick succession, captain Steven Smith and George Bailey carried on their performance from the first match as the pair almost saw Australia through.
Although Smith fell four short of another fifty, Bailey was there till the end and his unbeaten 76 helped Australia chase the target with an over to spare.
MS Dhoni speaks about the target they need to set
Indian captain MS Dhoni: "Seems as if we have to score more runs and that puts a lot of pressure on the batsman. Back to back 300 is always good, but looking at our bowlers, we need to score 330 or more.
“Most of the wides weren’t because of swing. And we bowled wides even with the old ball. When we were supposed to build pressure, we bowled wides. The spinners bowled reasonably well. The morale is up, we'll just have to play a few more shots. We can be on the receiving end if we lose too many wickets. We have to go out there and enjoy it. But looking at everything we have to score 330-plus to make a game out of it”
Cricket fraternity took to Twitter after India’s third successive ODI defeat, to express their mixed emotions on the game:
David Warner, who is on paternity leave, is understandably happy:
Former Australian batsman Tom Moody with an eerie sense of deja vu:
Harsha Bhogle is effusive in his praise of Rohit Sharma:
Sanjay Manjrekar:
Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman on Rohit Sharma:
Aakash Chopra on Ajinkya Rahane:
Ayaz Memon wondering what happened to the Indian fielders:
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