Wonderful batting display by skipper Dhoni lead India to a 99-run win over Australia and equal the series 1-1. Having lost the match by 4 runs, India had to win this game to keep their spirit up!
Ponting thought the pitch and the dew factor will help them batting second but it didn't.
Sachin once again disappointed the fans with a single digit score. Chasing the off side delivery, he edged the ball to Paine.
Sehwag made quick 40, which came of 31 balls. He hit 6 fours and a six in his brief stay.
Yuvaraj, played his first match after resting himself due to injury, made just 23. He looked good and thought to make a big innings. A good return catch by Hilfenhaus cut short his innings at 23. But the run rate was above 6 but India lost 3 wickets with 97 on the board in 15.1 overs.
Dhoni joined Gambhir. Both of them ensure that the run rate is retained through singles and twos. They also scored odd boundaries on the loose balls.
A powerful hit by Dhoni back to the bowler was dropped and it went to mid off. Gambhir started for a single but Dhoni did not respond. Hauritz picked it one hand, hit the stumps direct, Gambhir could not come on time.
Gambhir missed a nice opportunity to score a hundred. It was an unnecessary attempt for a single which ended his innigs at 76. Dhoni and Gambhir built 119 runs for the 4th wicket 18.5 overs.
Raina paired up with Dhoni and they rotated the strike. Though Raina was shaky at the initial stage, he adjusted himself well and scored a half-century.
India were 238 for 4 in 39 overs. Dhoni decided to take batting powerplay. The first 4 overs did not yield runs as expected. Johnson and Siddle shared two overs each and gave away just 29 runs.
It was the last over of the powerplay that gave the momentum to the Indian innings. Raina hit a four of the first ball to wide long on. He then took a single and gave strike to Dhoni. Next ball was a no ball which went was pulled to mid wicket boundary by Dhoni. The free hit was thrashed for straight boundary. Dhoni picked the slower one well and hit it very hard. The next delivery went over extra cover for 3 runs. India scored 18 runs in this one over, the highest.
A six by Dhoni over long on off Hilfenhaus took him to 96 and India to 294 for 4 in 45 overs.
Watson bowled the 46th over and went for 17 runs. Dhoni reached his century thruogh a powerful six over long off. The next delivery was also hit high in the air, over long off, it stayed long in the air, but at the end, cleared the boundary for a six.
Dhoni reached his 100 in 94 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Raina reached his 50 in 42 balls with 5 fours and a six. Raina hit a four, six, two and another four off Hilfenhaus and took India to 329 for 4 in 47 overs.
Dhoni, Raina and Praveen Kumar got out in the last over as India ended with 354, the highest against Australia, by any country, batting first.
Dhoni became the first wicket keeper batsman to score the highest runs against against Australia--124 in 107 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes.
Dhoni also became the first Indian captain to put the highest individual total against Australia.
Hilfenhaus went for 83 runs in his 10 overs, picking just 1 wicket. Johnson went for 75 in his 10, but picked 3 wickets. Voges and Watson went for 33 and 47 respectively in 5 overs.
Chasing 355 in 50 overs under light is always difficult. The start has to be good, momentum should be maintained, powerplay should be properly utilized. Big partnerships are required.
Paine was bowled through inner edge when tried to play across off Praveen Kumar. Ponting trapped plumb in front by Praveen for 12. Mike Hussey scored 53 but none of the batsmen looked dangerous. Aussies were losing wickets at regular intervals and India had the chance of recording a big win.
Having knownt that the victory in sight, they took it easy and missed the chance to win with 100+ runs margin.
After a long time Australia were dismissed in less than 50 overs. Ravindra Jadeja picked 3 wickets in 6.3 overs giving away 35 runs. Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma picked 2 each.
India are equal in the series at 1-1 and the next match is on October 31 in Delhi.
Scoreboard:
Match # 2
Date: Wednesday October 28, 2009
Teams: Australia v. India
Captains: R Ponting and MS Dhoni
Toss: Australia, decided to field
Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur
Result: India won by 190 runs
Series: Equal at 1-1
Man of the Match: MS Dhoni off India
India Innings:
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| V Sehwag | c Hilfenhaus b Johnson | 40 | 31 | 6 | 1 |
| S Tendulkar | c White b Siddle | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| G Gambhir | run out (Hauritz) | 76 | 80 | 6 | 0 |
| Yuvaraj Singh | c & b Hilfenhaus | 23 | 24 | 2 | 1 |
| M Dhoni | c Paine b Johnson | 124 | 107 | 9 | 3 |
| S Raina | c Paine b Johnson | 62 | 50 | 6 | 1 |
| Harbhajan | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| P Kumar | run out (Siddle/Paine) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras | (b 1, lb 6, w 14, nb 2) | 23 | - | - | - |
| Total | for 7 wkts in 50 overs | 354 | - | - | - |
Fall of Wickets: 1-21 (Tendulkar, 3.3 ov), 2-67 (Sehwag, 10.1 ov), 3-97 (Yuvraj Singh, 15.1 ov), 4-216 (Gambhir, 33.6 ov), 5-352 (Dhoni, 49.3 ov), 6-353 (Raina, 49.5 ov), 7-354 (Kumar, 49.6 ov)
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| Hilfenhaus | 10 | 0 | 83 | 1 |
| Siddle | 10 | 0 | 55 | 1 |
| M Johnson | 10 | 0 | 75 | 3 |
| N Hauritz | 10 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| A Voges | 5 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| S Watson | 5 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
Australia Innings: (355 to win in 50 overs)
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| S Watson | c Tendulkar b I Sharma | 19 | 26 | 3 | 0 |
| T Paine | b P Kumar | 8 | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| R Ponting | lbw b Kumar | 12 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| C White | c Raina b Harbhajan | 23 | 42 | 3 | 0 |
| M Hussey | b R Jadeja | 53 | 60 | 6 | 0 |
| A Voges | b R Jadeja | 36 | 44 | 1 | 0 |
| S Marsh | st Dhoni b R Jadeja | 21 | 21 | 1 | 1 |
| M Johnson | b A Nehra | 21 | 19 | 2 | 1 |
| N Hauritz | not out | 30 | 32 | 3 | 0 |
| P Siddle | c Dhoni b I Sharma | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Hilfenhaus | run out (Yuvaraj/Dhoni) | 16 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Extras | (lb 5, w 8) | 13 | - | - | - |
| Total | all out in 48.3 overs | 255 | - | - | - |
Fall of Wickets: 1-20 (Paine, 4.6 ov), 2-41 (Watson, 9.1 ov), 3-45 (Ponting, 10.1 ov), 4-93 (White, 20.6 ov), 5-140 (Hussey, 30.3 ov), 6-180 (Marsh, 36.5 ov), 7-194 (Voges, 38.3 ov), 8-223 (Johnson, 43.3 ov), 9-230 (Siddle, 44.4 ov), 10-255 (Hilfenhaus, 48.3 ov)
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| P Kumar | 8 | 1 | 37 | 2 |
| A Nehra | 7 | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| I Sharma | 8 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| Harbhajan | 10 | 0 | 62 | 1 |
| Yuvaraj | 8 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| R Jadeja | 6.3 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| S Raina | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
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