Ind vs Aus Stats: Five 50s from top-5 propel Australia into ODI record books
India have never beaten the Aussies when the target has been in excess of 300 - a fact George Bailey and his team knew well as five fifties were hit in an innings worth 359.
All who said this was a jaded Australian team in India had to bite their words on Wednesday. Such was the dominance of the visitors in the second ODI in Jaipur, that their top five batsmen each scored a half-century - a first-ever in the history of ODI cricket!
Having won the first match comprehensively, the Aussies chose to bat first on a track that appeared to have a green tinge. And they fired from the word go. (Live Blog)
Openers Aaron Finch and Phil Hughes kept the Indian bowlers at bay with an excellent array of strokeplay, several crashing into the advertisement hoardings. While Finch scored his 50 off 52 deliveries, Hughes managed his off 68 deliveries before adding another 33. (Scorecard)
Their eventual dismissals failed to bring any respite to the ball boys as Shane Watson (59), skipper George Bailey (92 not out) and Glenn Maxwell (53) kept the Australians in cruise mode, courtesy their own individual aggressions. (The 'curse of 359')
The customary rise of the bat and acknowledging the applause happened as many as five times at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium - with only Pakistan batsmen managing the same when five of their own hit fifties against Zimbabwe in 2007, although opener Salman Butt had missed out. In that match, the hosts in Karachi notched up 347 runs - 12 less than what Australians got on Wednesday, leaving the Indian bowlers in tatters and their batsmen sweating at the prospect of mounting a challenge to bring down the highest ever total at this venue.