Mohali : Australia chased down India’s total of 303/9 with four wickets in hand to take a 2-1 lead in the seven-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here Saturday.
Adam Voges (76 not out) and James Faulkner (64 not out) came together in the end for the visitors to win the game with three balls to spare.
Earlier, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck a fantastic unbeaten 139 to take India to a 300-par score.
Brief scores: India 303/9 in 50 overs (Mahendra Singh Dhoni 139 not out, Virat Kohli 68, Ravichandran Ashwin 28; Mitchell Johnson 4/46, Glenn Maxwell 1/8; Clint McKay 1/49) lost to Australia 304/6 in 49.3 overs (Adam Voges 76 not out, James Faulkner 64 not out, George Bailey 43; Vinay Kumar 2/50, Ravindra Jadeja 1/31, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/50).
Update at end of India’s Inning :
India were struggling at 156 for six in the 32nd over and it took a breathtaking knock from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to bail the team out of trouble. Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 139 off 121 balls, becoming the first Indian to score a century on the Punjab Cricket Association’s (PCA) ground here. Dhoni’s innings turned out to be the highest score at the venue.
The swashbuckling Indian skipper also reached 5,000 runs as an ODI captain, the seventh to do so and the third Indian after Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly.
The series is tied at 1-1.
Players of both the teams for today’s match :
India Team : RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli, SK Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, I Sharma,
Australia Team : AJ Finch, PJ Hughes, SR Watson, GJ Bailey, GJ Maxwell, AC Voges, BJ Haddin, James Faulkner, MG Johnson, CJ McKay, XJ Doherty