India take 2-0 lead as Virat Kohli registers 40th ODI century

India captain Virat Kohli celebrates his 100 in the orange city. Pics/PTI

Indian bowlers delivered in a heart-stopping climax to fashion a narrow eight-run victory against Australia in the second ODI after skipper Virat Kohli conjured up a resolute hundred in testing conditions yesterday.

Pacer Vijay Shankar scalped the last two Australian batsmen in the final over off which Australia needed 11 runs for a series-levelling win. Handing the ball to medium pacer Shankar at the make-or-break situation was a bold decision by skipper Kohli, who had the option of employing Kedar Jadhav as well.

India spinner Kuldeep Yadav (centre) and MS Dhoni celebrate the dismissal of Australia captain Aaron Finch in the second ODI at Nagpur yesterday. Yadav took 3-54

Chasing 251, Australia were 240 for eight when Shankar got rid of the dangerous Marcus Stoinis (52) in the very first ball of the 50th over and then castled Adam Zampa off the third delivery to hand India its 500th ODI win.

Just before that, pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/19), who is ever-reliable in death overs, dismissed Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins within a space of three balls in the 46th over and conceded just one run in the 48th, after the spinners had choked the Australians in the middle overs. Stoinis kept the visitors in the hunt as he resisted the unrelenting Indian attack with aplomb and added 47-runs for the sixth wicket with Alex Carey (22).

Earlier, Kohli's 40th ODI century steered India to a competitive 250 after a middle-order collapse on a dry surface at the VCA Stadium here. It proved to be just enough in the end as India earned the win with three balls to spare to lead the five-match series 2-0 ahead of the third match slated for Friday in Ranchi.

Earlier, the Indian skipper was in good touch and played some delightful drives in conditions that tested the fitness of every player. Kohli struck only 10 boundaries and ran a lot of singles and twos in his 116-run knock.

He was at the crease till the start of the 48th over, facing 120 balls in an innings that will rank among one of his top ODI knocks in recent times. "It felt good [to get to 40 ODI ton] but it is just a number. It feels good to win games for India. When I walk in to bat, when the situation gets difficult, I have no choice but to put my head down and bat through the innings," Kohli later said.

On his decision to throw the ball to Shankar in the final over, Kohli said: "I was thinking of using Vijay in the 46th over, but I spoke to Rohit and MS [Dhoni] and they said, let's stick with Shami and Bumrah, and if they get some wickets, we're on top. Vijay kept it stump-to-stump, kept it simple, and it worked. It's always nice to speak to Rohit. MS has been around and you speak to the bowler as well. They're all on the same page."

Australia captain Finch said Kohli's hundred made the difference: "If one of our top order got 80-100, we would have probably won the game. We got the starts, but starts don't win games. We got 30s and 40s, they got a hundred, that was the difference."

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