If the
Diwali sweets in your homes were already consumed,
Rohit Sharma and
Virat Kohli ensured that the lingering aftertaste of those sweets would stay on for at least another day.
On a heady Saturday afternoon at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Indian bowlers, led by pacer Harshit Rana (4-39) and the spin trio of Washington Sundar (2-44), Kuldeep Yadav (1-50), and Axar Patel (1-18 from six overs), engineered an Australian collapse of 7-53 to see the hosts, who chose to bat first, fold for 236 after being 183-3.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Then, the largely Indian crowd got what they had paid for, a Ro-Ko batting clinic which fashioned a nine-wicket victory to help the visitors avoid a whitewash. The hosts won the series 2-1.
In Adelaide, two nights ago, Rohit had battled hard for a majority of his 73 runs on a spicy deck. At Sydney, a venue where he had played key roles in the only two previous Indian wins over Australia in 2008 and 2016, the former skipper advanced to his 33rd ODI hundred off just 105 balls. Rohit (121*, 125 balls, 13x4, 3x6) now has nine hundreds vs Australia, the joint most with Sachin Tendulkar.
Alongside him was Kohli, his partner-in-crime in many a chase vs the Aussies. The chase master dug in. After all, he hadn’t travelled 6472 air miles from Delhi to return from Down Under without a run.
Kohli responded with a polished, unbeaten 74 (81b, 7x4) and celebrated his first run, courtesy of a clip off Josh Hazlewood, with a mock clenched fist and a smile. The senior pros added 168 for the second wicket, their 19th century stand, to coast to the target, and silence doubters who had questioned their ability to remain competitive at this level.
Kohli’s greatness in the ODI format is because of his ability to run hard between wickets and become a risk-free run-machine without affecting the tempo of the innings. Dabs to third man, clips to mid-wicket, and drives to widish long-off against spin are his staple diet, especially after the powerplay.
On Saturday, while the highlights reel will feature mostly Rohit, Kohli’s straight drive off Mitchell Starc will make you pop the champagne. The only bit of drama for him came when he survived an umpire’s call DRS for an lbw off Nathan Ellis. During his knock, he surpassed Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 14,234 ODI runs to be second on the table of highest ODI run-scorers behind Sachin Tendulkar.
Batting with an open stance to counter the inward movement of Mitchell Starc, Rohit began clipping a Starc inswinger through midwicket. Another rasping extra-cover drive off the left-armer had Mark Waugh on commentary salivating.
He reserved his best for the spinners though, especially leggie Adam Zampa, who he hit for two sixes, one via a slog-sweep and another one over deep extra cover.
Australia tried using part-timers Cooper Connolly and Matthew Short to disrupt Rohit, but both were swept violently for boundaries behind square. Rohit’s hundred came courtesy of a gentle push off Zampa to long-off and marked his 50th international ton. He has five in T20Is and 12 in Tests.
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