Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith admitted that Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer took the game away from them after their 99-run (DLS method) loss against India at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Sunday. After Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed early by Josh Hazlewood, Shreyas Iyer joined Gill at the crease.
Iyer, who hasn’t been able to grab his chance in a couple of innings was under the pump but he was able to get off the blocks, playing a lofted drive over extra cover on the third ball he faced to make his intentions clear.
Gill, on the other hand, got off to a sedate start but the in-form batter was able to change gears and continued his rich vein of form. The duo added 200 runs for the second wicket and played at the top of their game.
Iyer scored his third ODI century and there was a huge sigh of relief on his face when he breached the three-digit mark. The Mumbai batter scored a fine knock of 105 runs off just 90 balls whereas Gill contributed with 104 runs. However, both the right-handers were dismissed after reaching their personal milestone.
After their dominant show, KL Rahul continued his great form, scoring 52 off 38 balls. The finishing touches were then added by Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed 72 runs off just 37 balls with the help of half-a-dozen fours and as many sixes. Yadav’s blitzkrieg took India to a massive score of 399 runs on the board.
Australia then lost two early wickets of Matthew Short and Steve Smith in the run-chase and they were given a revised DLS target of 317 runs in 33 overs after rain intervention. However, the visitors were bundled out for 218 runs to concede a 2-0 lead in the series with Jadeja and Ashwin picking three wickets each.
Steven Smith said in the post-match presentation, “When we came here it looked like a good wicket. Credit to them, Gill and Iyer batted beautifully and took the game away from us. The way KL and Surya batted, it was briliant. After the rain, it got sticky and it started to spin.”
He added, “We have lost quite a few (matches) in a row, in South Africa and here. We need to sort out a few things, hopefully, we turn it around in the next game. We have a few days now, we are working towards the World Cup, and both the teams are. Hopefully, we’ll turn it around in the last game.”
The third ODI of the series will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on Wednesday.
