Fighting batting, wrist spin help India go 1-0 up

Barely six months after the two teams were engrossed in a thrilling 4-Test series, the Australians are back to India to complete the limited overs version of the tour. After so much wait finally the awaited series starts with lots of excitement and thrill.

Indian captain won the toss and invited the guests for the field. “It is a no-brainer”, said the Indian skipper Virat Kohli at the toss, while electing the bat first.

It seemed Australia had racked their brains well enough to come up with a plan against India on flat tracks. Riding on sharp, tidy lengths, Australia's new ball bowlers put the Indian batsmen under the pump.

Having reduced India to 11 for 3, Australia seemed to be in complete control but a stubborn Kedar Jadhav combined well with Rohit Sharma to put on show India's first signs of resilience. While the duo added 53 runs for the fourth wicket, the major damage had to come through in the form of a stellar stand between Pandya and Dhoni, both of whom took stock of the situation first before bludgeoning their way past fifties to give India a solid 281.

83 runs in last 10 overs. Pandya once again proved why Kohli rates him so highly and then Dhoni proved why there is no reason to look anywhere until World Cup, 2019. It was amazing to see him flaunt a few shots that are usually associated with him. Is this the new version of Dhoni? Comes when the team is in trouble, plays around and then instills enough confidence in the tail – read Bhuvi (32 off 30) in this case – play shots. 

 However, rain had other plans as it ran the game close to the cut-off time without a single ball in Australia's chase. Eventually, Australia were given 21 overs to chase 164, during which their batting let them down.

But by the end of Sunday evening, the visitors were torn by some supremely fighting batting and a muddled batting approach in curtailed conditions against superior spin bowling. Chasing 164 in 21 overs demanded a more T20 approach but wickets up front saw Australia hurtle before crashing faceward down, handing the hosts a 26-run win.

Stats and records: 

It was the second lowest score for India at the fall of 3^rd wicket in home.

ODI : 5 VS SA,           Hyderabad    2005

          11 VS Australia, Chennai       2017

          12 VS WI,           Faridabad    1994

          12 VS Australia, Vadodara     2007

83 by Hardik is the highest for an Indian at number 7 or below against Australia in ODIs goes past by 75 by Robin Singh in Colombo in 1999.

194 runs scored by India’s number 6,7 & 8 is the second most by them in an ODI innings, after 198 against Zimbabwe in Turnbridge Wells in 1983.

This is Australia’s first loss in five ODIs at Chepauk.

It was the third time Hardik Pandya hit sixes off three consecutive ball in ODIs.

This was the first ever ODI for David Warner in India.

MS Dhoni back to his so called second home ground for play after 695 days.

This is only the 4^th time India’s No. 3 & 4 both got out for a duck in the same ODI.

100^th International Fifty for MS Dhoni and become fourth Indian to achieve this landmark.

           Sachin 164

           Dravid 146

           Ganguly 107

           Dhoni 100*

MS Dhoni now scored 401 runs at Chennai which is most by any player on this ground in ODI cricket.

Dhoni ODI batting average:

         2015 – 45.71

         2016 – 27.80

         2017 – 94.00*

Hardik Pandya become third Indian to score 70+ and take 2+ wickets in an ODI:         (1) Sachin Tendulkar

                  (2) Robin Singh

                 (3) Hardik Pandya

Indian Cricket Team in 2017 so far....... Part-1

• Hello guys...😊 I am going to start my new blog which is the on the favourite sport of the nation and that is???? yes cricket…. Sport which is loved most by the Indian people.

• So for the first post I have selected the topic the performance of Indian cricket team in the year 2017 so far. 2017 has been quite impressive year for the Indian cricket team in which they have played magnificently and shows their strength to the world.

• In the year 2017 indian cricket team has played total 10 series yet, including one major ICC tournament "ICC champions trophy 2017". Among them team has won 8 series and face the defeat in two of them.

• Now starting from the first series we will look back for the performance of team and also the milestones covered by the team and players in each series in total 10 parts.

(1) 3 match ODI series VS England in india from 15 jauary to 22 january 2017

Result : India won the series by 2-1

• After defeating England in the Test series by 4-0, India once again tasted victory in the three-match ODI series by a margin of 2-1. However, throughout this ODI series England fought hard, unlike in the Test series. Unfortunately they could not manage to win crucial phases in the games and ended on the losing side in the first two ODIs. England managed to win the last match played at Kolkata by the margin of five runs because of the all-rounder performance from Ben Stokes who was adjudged Man of the Match.

• This was the first time after 19 matches across formats, India lost a match under the captaincy of Virat Kohli at home. Before, the third ODI match, India played 12 Tests and seven ODIs under the leadership of Virat Kohli at home and were unbeaten.

• In the first ODI match, India successfully chased down the target of 351 runs and became the team with the highest number of successful chases, while chasing a score of 350 or more. India has now chased down such target thrice. In the first ODI, India’s target of 351 became overall the joint fourth highest successfully chased target in ODI history and the second highest successfully chased target for India in ODIs. 

• India won the first ODI at Pune by three wickets because of tremendous effort from captain Kohli’s as he scored his 17th century while chasing and became the player with the joint most centuries in chases in ODIs. Kohli made 122 runs in this ODI which eventually is the highest score by an Indian captain against England in an ODI. The previous record was held by Sourav Ganguly who scored 117 not out against England in Colombo (RPS) in 2002. 

• However, Kohli broke Tendulkar’s record of 14 centuries in successful chases in ODIs in Pune. His average of 90.90 in successful ODI chases is the second best for any batsman among batsmen who have scored at least 1000 runs in successful ODI chases.
• Kedar Jadhav played a match-winning innings for India in the first ODI by scoring 120 runs from 76 balls. He completed his century in just 65 balls and it was the fifth quickest century by an Indian player in ODIs. He became the first Indian batsman to score two ODI centuries batting at No.6.

• Jadhav-Kohli added 200 runs for the fifth wicket in Pune which is now the second highest      partnership for India in ODIs for the fifth or lower wicket. 

• In the second ODI, India made 381 runs by losing six wickets which was their second highest total against England in ODIs.

• India won the second ODI despite losing three wickets at the score of 25 thanks to comeback man Yuvraj Singh and former captain MS Dhoni’s. Yuvraj scored 150 runs in the second ODI at Cuttack which is now his highest score in ODIs and highest by any Indian batsman against England in this format. He also became the sixth player to score 150 or more runs against England in an ODI match. The others who have achieved this milestone are Vivian Richards, Martin Guptill, Shane Watson, Sanath Jayasuriya and Hashim Amla.

• During the second ODI, by hitting six sixes, MS Dhoni became the first Indian batsman to hit 200 sixes in ODIs. He also holds the record of hitting most sixes as a captain and also as a wicket-keeper in this format.

• In the second ODI match, Yuvraj and Dhoni both scored a century at an age of 35 or more which is only the third such instance in ODI cricket history. 

• The Yuvraj-Dhoni partnership of 256 runs for the fourth wicket in the second ODI is now the fifth highest for any wicket in Indian ODI cricket history.

• The Yuvraj-Dhoni partnership at Cuttack is the second highest partnership in ODI history for the fourth wicket. This partnership was also the highest for India against England for any wicket in ODIs.

• England made 366 runs in reply of India’s 381 runs in the second ODI which is now the second highest total in a losing cause in ODIs while chasing. 

• This is the first time in a bilateral ODI series of three matches where every innings saw a 300-plus score. 2090 runs were scored in the series which is also the highest in a bilateral ODI series of three or fewer matches.

• In the third ODI, Kohli completed his 1000 runs as a captain in ODIs and he is the quickest to reach the landmark in terms of innings.

• India’s defeat against England in the third ODI also ended Kohli’s eight-match winning streak in ODIs which is the joint second best for any Indian captain.