Virat Kohli Was The Difference In The Game, says Australian Skipper Aaron Finch After Losing 2n ODI

For the second time in his career, Vijay Shankar was under immense pressure to do the job in the final over; this time with the ball.

The all-rounder ably did the job and with two wickets in the first three deliveries of the 50th over he steered India to yet another win in the ODI series.

The home side shrugged off a disappointing T20I series and registered second win in ODIs in as many matches.

At VCA stadium in Nagpur, a combined efforts saw India win the game by a margin of 8 runs to go 2-0 up in the series.

Put in to chase down a target of 251, Australia did have their chances but Indian spinners and Jasprit Bumrah blew them away.

Australian batsmen did make look like they will chase down the target but the spinners applied the choke, that saw India save the target.

Australian skipper Aaron Finch felt that Virat Kohli was the difference in the game and said, “It was close, was one of the games that we wanted to take as deep as we can. Stoinis played a really superb innings but we couldn’t get across the line. We’ll learn. (On when he thought Aus were in front) Not at any stage really, not on this pitch against this Indian attack. (Whether Australia left it too late) Not really, I thought if Stoinis takes a risk early and gets out, we have no chance at all.”

“It was important for him to take it deep and I am sure he will learn from this. In the future, we will get across the line. Would have been good to get more, starts don’t win you games. We had many starts and they had a century from their side. Virat was the difference in the game, if one of our main batters had done the job, we would have got across the line,” he added.

On a turning pitch, Rohit Sharma fell to a pacer right in the first over of the game as he handed a catch to Adam Zampa off Pat Cummins.

The early jitter had an impact on the run-rate that Australian were able to keep under control.

Shikhar Dhawan failed to capitalise on a good start and was dismissed on 21 off 29.

Ambati Rayudu failed once again as he managed 18 off 32.

He asked for a review but three reds meant he was dismissed and India also lost a crucial review earlier in the innings.

Vijay Shankar had an ideal platform to take a step further in booking a place for World Cup and did the job by paring Virat Kohli for 81 runs, where te duo played 11.5 overs during the partnership.

Shankar’s inning came to a disappointing end as he was run-out.

Kohli’s straight shot touched Adam Zampa’s hand before dislodging the bails at the other end with Shankar out of his crease, that marked an end to his innings.

Skipper Virat Kohli continued to march ahead and cruised to hs 40^th ODI century, playing a key role in India posting 250 on the board.

Ravindra Jadeja too play an active part with 21 off 40, that was quite crucial considering the nature of the pitch.

With this win, India are now leading the five-match ODI series 2-0.

The third ODI of the series will be played in Ranchi on March 8.