2nd ODI Tri-Nation Series, Highlights: Australia Edge Past India by 4 Wickets in Tense Chase
Aaron Finch's knock of 96 set up Australia's four-wicket win over India at the MCG. Catch all the highlights from the match.
Defending a modest total, Indian bowlers did well to put Aussies under pressure but in the end the hosts won with an over to spare. Needing 15 off 12 balls, Faulkner and Haddin struck three fours between them to earn their second win of the Tri-Series. (Scorecard | Highlights)
17.03 (IST): George Bailey: It would have been nice if we hadn't left it up to Faulkner. We dragged it back really well with the ball. We had the momentum whne we came off the field. Finch battled his natural game a bit, deserved a hundred and that partnership with Smith was good. We delayed India's charge leading to the death overs. Once again wickets at the end so important and Starc had a great night. Finchy's been in pretty good touch right htorugh the ear in ODIs, particularly in Australia. Tonight he played really hard between 40 and 60 and stuck it out.
17.02 (IST): MS Dhoni: Good game over all. Starc bowled really well and Rohit played brilliantly. But what was crucial was bowling with the new ball. The game was just drifting till the 30th over, but we picked up at 35 overs and once we got reverse swing we were able to put pressure. I said I don't care about the result, just keep in mind what happened after the last huddle. That will win us tournaments. We have to keep in mind that from now on, whatever games we play we need to execute
17.00 (IST): Mitchell Starc: The ball's coming out well and Australia are winning games. Great to contribute and it was a team effort. Picked up key wickets.Rohit batted well, but Finchy played well and Faulkner's finished it for us. I was a bit nervous, still am standing with pads on talking to you.
16.46 (IST): It's all over! Australia finish it off with an over to spare! Two wins in two games for them, this one by four wickets. India did well to take the game till the end but they were perhaps, 15 runs short. An exceptional knock of 96 from Aaron Finch set up Australia's chase with solid support from Steve Smith (47) and Shane Watson (41). As for India, Rohit Sharma's 138 was a bright spot along with some late surge from the pacers.
16.36 (IST): Axar Patel finishes his 10-over spell with only five coming off his final over. Australia 253/6, need 15 off 12 balls.
16.28 (IST): OUT! Maxwell is gone! He is flummoxed by a slower delivery and is gone, caught and bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Australia 248/6 (46.3 overs), need 20 off 21 balls.
16.27 (IST): Oh dear! Shami seems to have pulled a hamstring and is walking off the field. Bhuvneshwar will complete the over.
16.23 (IST): Another good over for India. Axar Patel concedes six runs. Australia 248/5 (46 overs), need 20 runs off 24 balls.
16.19 (IST): Exceptional over from Umesh Yadav under the circumstances. Only one run off it. Australia 242/5 (45 overs), need 26 runs off 30 balls.
16.15 (IST): SIX and FOUR! Maxwell goes after his "old friend" Ravichandran Ashwin and eases the pressure of Bailey's dismissal. Australia 241/5 (44 overs)
16.13 (IST): OUT! George Bailey is gone. Smart glovework from Dhoni, stumping Bailey off Ashwin. Australia 230/5 (43.2 overs)
16.03 (IST): Australia 223/4 in 41 overs with Bailey and Maxwell in the middle. Hosts need 45 off 54 balls.
15.59 (IST): Oh dear! Finch falls four short of a century. More importantly Australia are four down. Finch is gone, caught behind by Dhoni off Umesh Yadav. Australia 216/4 (40.1 overs)
15.54 (IST): OUT! Steve Smith is gone for 47. Shami bowls a short ball and Smith attempts a flat-batted pull but finds Ashwin at mid-wicket. Australia 216/3 (39.4 overs) vs India (267/8)
15.50 (IST): Steve Smith has another milestone.
Congratulations @stevesmith49! #AUSvIND #WWOS pic.twitter.com/AFw62VKem1
- Wide World of Sports (@WWOS9) January 18, 2015
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15.25 (IST): Aaron Finch is taking the Indian bowlers apart here. He moves into the 90s with his second six off Raina.
15.10 (IST): Indian fans are loving Kohli at the boundary line. He is cheering them on and having a little fun of his own.
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15.00 (IST): Can India defend their modest total from here?
Great night for cricket at the @MCG! Australia need 129 more runs from 132 balls: http://t.co/zwCnM6zdDF #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/0Fox0aCpnc
- cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 18, 2015
14.47 (IST): OUT! Shane Watson is gone! He departs for 41. Axar Patel has a cleaned him up. Australia 115/2 (22.4 overs)
14.41 (IST): Aaron Finch and Shane Watson have added a fifty-run stand for the third wicket. Australia 105/1 (21 overs)
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14.10 (IST): Umesh Yadav mixes it up well and bowls an excellent maiden over to the dangerous Aaron Finch. Australia 57/1 (12 overs)
13.59 (IST): OUT! David Warner (24) is gone! He tries to pull a delivery from Umesh Yadav but it isn't short enough. A leading edge pops up and Suresh Raina takes a good catch at covers. Australia 51/1 (9.1 overs)
13.56 (IST): Fifty up for Australia! Warner (23) and Finch (23) have given Australia a solid start here. They need 217 more runs to win off 41 overs.
13.42 (IST): Solid start from David Warner and Aaron Finch. They've shown the right mix of patience (against Bhuvneshwar) and aggression (against Umesh and Shami). Australia 34/0 (6 overs) vs India (267/8)
13.25 (IST): Contrasting starts from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav. The former kept it tidy and conceded just five off the first over while the latter gave away 13 in the second. Australia 18/0 (2 overs) vs India (267/8)
12.57 (IST): India 267/8 in 50 overs vs Australia. Rohit Sharma's excellent knock of 138 looked good enough to guide India to a 300-plus total but Mitchell Starc came back to wrap up India's tail to great effect. He finished with his career-best figures of 6/43.
12.42 (IST): OUT! Bhuvneshwar Kumar is gone first ball. Mitchell Starc picks up his sixth wicket. India 262/8 (48.5 overs)
12.37 (IST): OUT! Rohit Sharma is gone. Mitchell Starc gets his fifth wicket. India 262/7 (48.4 overs)
12.31 (IST): 250 up for India! Rohit take the team past the mark with a six off Faulkner. India 252/6 in 47 overs. How much more can India get in the last three overs?
12.21 (IST): Another wicket! Starc gets the ball to swing late and Axar Patel plays too far across. The ball hits Axar on the back leg and the umpire reckons it would've struck the stumps. India 237/6 in 44.4 overs
12.19 (IST): OUT! Dhoni is gone for 19. He chops one onto his stumps. Third wicket for Starc. India 237/5 (44.2 overs)
12.15 (IST): Rohit Sharma brings up the fifty-run stand with MS Dhoni with a boundary. India 235/4 (43.4 overs).
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12.04 (IST): FACTOID: Last Indian batsman, and the only one in history, to score an ODI ton at MCG was Sourav Ganguly. He scored 100 in 2000. Rohit has surpassed that tally today.
11.48 (IST): Another double ton coming up?
When Rohit made 209 against Australia in an ODI in Bangalore he reached his ton in the 38th over. He's one over ahead of that here #ausvind
- Brydon Coverdale (@brydoncoverdale) January 18, 2015
11.43 (IST): Rohit Sharma hits his 6th ton, off 109 balls. India 191/4 (36.1 overs).ÂÂ
11.36 (IST): OUT! Against the run of play, Suresh Raina is gone! He plays a tame shot off Starc and it goes straight to Maxwell at mid-on. He departs for 51. India 185/4 in 35 overs.
11.29 (IST): FIFTY for Suresh Raina! His 33rd in ODIs and first in Australia. India 182/3 in 34.2 overs.
11.15 (IST): The 100-run stand between Rohit and Raina comes up. They've done well to steer India out of early trouble after Dhawan, Rahane and Kohli fell cheaply. India 159/3 in 31 overs.
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11.10 (IST): Rohit Sharma has played some very good strokes today. He's on XX. Can he make his start count?
10.49 (IST): The last time Rohit played vs Australia, he scored 209. Here, he's batting on 75.
10.37 (IST): That emphatic hit also brought up the 50-run stand between Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.
10.35 (IST): Rohit Sharma gets to his 24th ODI fifty with a sensational six! He dances down the track and hits one over long on off Faulkner. India 110/3 in 22.4 overs
10.19 (IST): FOUR! Cummins bowls a short ball at 147 kmph and Suresh Raina pulls handsomely in front of mid-wicket for his first four of the match. India 82/3 in 18.5 overs.
10.05 (IST): SIX! Rohit gets behind a short ball from Starc and pulls him comfortably for a six over the fine leg fence. India 70/3 (16.2 overs)
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09.52 (IST): OUT! Massive wicket! Virat Kohl is gone! He tries to pull a length delivery but a leading edge carries to George Bailey at mid on. James Faulkner gets the big fish. India 59/3 (12.5 overs)
09.32 (IST): Glorious cover drive! Pat Cummins bowls an over-pitched delivery and Rohit lays into it in style. He plays a classy cover drive. India 40/2 (8.5 overs)
09.26 (IST): India's man of the moment Virat Kohli walks out to bat. The game is nicely poised for him to start off with a century?
Virat Kohli.... last seven ODI inns 62, 127, 22, 49, 53, 66, 139*... #AusvInd
- Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 18, 2015
09.25 (IST): OUT! Gurinder Sandhu gets his first wicket! There was a bit of extra bounce and it was too close for Rahane to attempt a cut. The outside edge carries comfortably to Haddin behind the stumps. India 33/2, 7.2 overs
09.22 (IST): Pat Cummins bowls an excellent over, just two runs off it. India 32/1 in 7 overs
09.08 (IST): What a shot! Rohit Sharma plays the most exquisite shot off Pat Cummins. Cummins pitches up a slower ball and Rohit gets right behind it to launch it over the long off fence. Breathtaking shot. India 22/1 in 3.4 overs
09.04 (IST): Starc is on top of his game here. He is testing Rahane well. Rahane gets a four off an inside edge but relieves some pressure with an uppish cut, just beyond the reach of a diving Steve Smith at gully. India 16/1 in 3 overs.
Things guaranteed in life Death, Taxes and @mstarc56 getting a wicket in his first over with the white kookaburra #MitchMotorway #AUSvIND
- Damien Fleming (@bowlologist) January 18, 2015
 08.59 (IST): Interesting to see Rahane batting at No. 3. Whether it is to let Virat Kohli take the no. 4 spot across formats or just trust Rahane with an important batting position based on his current form, it might work in India's favour. At the moment, both Starc and Pat Cummins are causing all sorts of problems on what Sunil Gavaskar described as a batting wicket.
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08.57 (IST): Surprise, surprise! Ajinkya Rahane walks out to bat at no. 3. Sign of things to come in ODIs?
08.56 (IST): OUT! Dhawan is gone! He slashed at a delivery outside the off-stump and a thick edge carried to Aaron Finch in the slip cordon. Starc has once again struck in the first over. India 3/1
08.52 (IST): LBW Shout! Starc gets Dhawan stuck at the crease. It was a full ball that swung late. Umpire says not out. Replays suggest Dhawan is lucky to still be in the middle.
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08.45 (IST): It will also be interesting to see how this man goes on his debut.
Gurinder Sandhu receiving his ODI cap from Rod Marsh, No.206 for Australia #AUSvIND https://t.co/xSWYx9IWk4
- cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 18, 2015
08.40 (IST): Tom Moody sums up the start of the game very well. Can Indian bowlers rise to the occasion and match their batsmen? We will have to wait and watch.
Game day Aust v India we'll get to see if India's bowling can keep pace with their classy batting. #AUSvIND #ODI
- Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) January 18, 2015
08.40 (IST): Australia XI: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin, James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Gurinder Sandhu
08.34 (IST): India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
08.25 (IST): TOSS TIME! India opt to bat vs Australia. Axar Patel gets a game. Australia hand Gurinder Sandhu a debut in place of Xavier Doherty.
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni will return to the field after retiring from Tests Down Under. An able general with a deadly track record, he has his eyes set firmly on defending the World Cup. In India's first match of the tri-nation series, he would look to perfect the balance, plans and tactics. Not known for their Test skills overseas, the Indian outfit is completely different in the limited-overs format.
The team though will miss the services of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Ishant Sharma in the first match. Stuart Binny - the surprise pick for the World Cup - may get a chance to play and prove his skills. (The real reason for Stuart Binny's World Cup selection)
While Binny will have to justify his inclusion at the cost of veterans Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag, coach Duncan Fletcher is looking for perfection from the entire squad. While he has backed his pace battery and praised Dhoni for his leadership, Fletcher would look at a winning start in the tri-nation series as auspicious.
To expect Australia to make things easy though would be a grave mistake. The hosts have already shown that they mean business - winning the first ODI against England by three wickets. David Warner slammed a century in the match and has already promised to be 'arrogant' in the World Cup. If he gets going, Australia can carve out a sizeable lead over the Indians - in terms of ODI rankings - ahead of the World Cup.
Mitchell Starc can also be a handful in the pace department. Indian batsmen would be well-advised not to jump the gun and go out to prove a point after losing the Test series 2-0.
India have won their last five ODIs while the Aussies are on a four-ODI winning streak. Statistics and past records would matter little when the two giants of ODI cricket go head-on against each other.