Dhawan hits ton as India floor Australia

By Khalid Hussain

June 10, 2019

LONDON: It was like a home game for India and they took full advantage of it, trouncing defending champions Australia by 36 runs to reassert their status as one of the hot favourites for the World Cup crown.

Wearing India’s traditional blue, the team’s supporters turned up in big numbers and weren’t disappointed by Virat Kohli and his men as they first posted 352-5 and then bowled Aussies for 316 despite fifties from comeback stars Steve Smith and David Warner.

Shikhar Dhawan was at the top of his game as he scored a century while skipper Virat Kohli and opener Rohit Sharma scored fifties to emerge as the chief contributors for India. A score like 352 has never been chased successfully in World Cup history and the Aussies must have known that needed a mountain to climb.

They made a cautious start with the otherwise flamboyant David Warner taking his time to settle down. In fact, it was Warner’s 56 that came off 84 balls that made the asking rate a bit too steep for the Aussies. And they never really recovered from it.

Smith posted a 70-ball 69 to keep Australia in the hunt and then Usman Khawaja (42) and Glen Maxwell (28) briefly lifted their hopes. But two wickets, including the key scalp of Smith, within the space of three deliveries from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-61) proved fatal for the Aussies. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 3-61. Alex Carey’s rear guard action that saw him scoring an unbeaten 55 from 35 balls but that turned out to be too little too late for Australia.

Earlier, Dhawan emerged as the architect of India’s authoritative triumph as he smashed his 17th ODI ton to make sure that the Indians accumulated a big total after opting to bat first.

Openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma saw off the first few overs when the ball wasn’t really coming to the bat but were soon in full flow. The Indian cause was given an early reprieve when Coulter-Nile dropped dangerman Sharma in the second over. He almost grabbed a chance at short midwicket off Mitchell Starc but couldn’t hold on to it. Sharma made the Aussies pay with 57 that came after his match-winning 122 against South Africa last week.

Together with Sharma, the left-handed Dhawan put on 127 from 22.3 overs in yet another impressive opening stand. He was then involved in a 93-run partnership for the second wicket with Kohli. It was a stand which made sure that the Indians will put the Aussies on the back foot with an imposing total.

Once Dhawan went back after his 109-ball 117 which included 16 fours, Kohli allowed the big-hitting Hardik Pandya to take centre-stage. Pandya smashed three sixes and four fours on his to a 27-ball 48. His fall didn’t really put the brakes on the Indian innings as the seasoned MS Dhoni joined Kohli on the crease. Dhoni hit a quickfire 27 from 14 balls and was only undone by a sharp reflex catch off his own bowling by Marcus Stoinis. Kohli was the last man to fall but his superb 82 from 77 balls played a key role in ensuring that the Indians post 352 – their fourth highest World Cup total. Stoinis finished with 2-62.

India won toss

India

R G Sharma c Carey b Coulter-Nile 57

S Dhawan c sub (Lyon) b Starc 117

*V Kohli c Cummins b Stoinis 82

H H Pandya c Finch b Cummins 48

†M S Dhoni c & b Stoinis 27

K L Rahul not out 11

K M Jadhav not out 0

Extras (lb 3, w 7) 10

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 352

Did not bat: B Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Y S Chahal, J J Bumrah