Australia beat India by four wickets in fourth ODI
Mohali: Unheralded Ashton Turner took an experienced Indian attack to the cleaners with some unbelievable hitting, helping Australia chase down a record breaking target of 359 runs and level the five-match series here Sunday.
It was the highest ever total that Indian team failed to defend in its ODI history, losing the game by four wickets.
Playing only his second ODI, Turner hit an unbeaten 84 off 43 balls with five boundaries and as many six sixes to help Australia win in only 47.5 overs. Earlier in the day, Shikhar Dhawan fired India to 358 for nine with a sublime 143 off 115 balls.
The partnership of 86 off 39 balls between Turner and Alex Carey became the turning point after Peter Handscomb and Usman Khawaja had set the platform with a 192-run third-wicket stand.
The big lad, who has been a designated finisher for Big Bash League side Perth Scorchers, showed his finishing skills against world's best death bowler Jasprit Bumrah (3/63), hitting him for an effortless ramp shot.
The swagger with which he lofted Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/67) over long-on and deep mid-wicket, earned him a few fans among the home crowd and the poor Indian fielding did help his cause with Kedar Jadhav and Shikhar Dhawan dropping sitters.
Turner used his big reach to hit those big sixes down the ground off Kuldeep and Chahal.
Khawaja (91 off 99 balls) and Handscomb (117 off 105 ) set the tone as they played Yuzvendra Chahal (1/64 in 10 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/80 in 10 overs) with ease.
The duo kept Australia in the hunt taking 73 runs off Vijay Shankar (0/29 in 5 overs) and Kedar Jadhav (0/44)'s combined 10-over spell.
Khawaja and Handscomb found the gaps with ease and the dew made it difficult for the Indian spinners with ball looking like a slippery bar of soap.
Khawaja was finally done in by a short ball from Bumrah and once Handscomb was dismissed, India were smelling victory but Turner changed it all.
Batting first, India looked a completely different side with opening duo putting on 193 runs on arguably the flattest track on offer during the ongoing series.
While Dhawan got his 16th hundred in ODIs, vice-captain Rohit (95 off 92 balls) missed out on what could have been a very well-deserved 23rd hundred with Australian bowlers looking like lambs for slaughter.
Pat Cummins (5/70 in 10 overs) and Jhye Richardson (3/85 in 9 overs) shared the spoils but were taken to task by the Indian openers for their wayward bowling.
Dhawan, who last reached a three-figure mark against Pakistan in an Asia Cup match in September 2018, was in fluent touch from the onset, hitting 18 fours and three sixes.
It released the pressure on Rohit, who initially was watchful even as Dhawan went after the bowling.
With another opening slot hopeful KL Rahul inducted into the playing XI, the 33-year-old Dhawan finally looked to have been shaken out of his comfort zone and played like only he could.
On a ground where it all started with a dream Test debut back in 2013 against the same opposition, the southpaw decided to ease any worries that the team management had with regards to his form going into the World Cup.
With left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff and premier speedster Pat Cummins feeding him on his legs, Dhawan got a flurry of boundaries inside the first six overs.
There is a saying about Dhawan that if he gets a cover drive in the initial overs, he is a difficult man to stop.
On a track, where the bowlers needed to pitch it further up, the Aussies bowled short and it helped Dhawan to muscle it through the mid-wicket region repeatedly.
Glenn Maxwell's (0/61 in 8 overs) venom-less off-breaks were like cannon fodder for Dhawan, who deposited two half-trackers for maximum.
Rohit also gained in confidence as lofted Adam Zampa (1/57 in 10 overs) for a huge six.
Finch (/22 in 3 overs) introduced himself but his friendly slow left-arm bowling was treated with contempt by Rohit.
He picked up Richardson's slow bouncers and guided one behind square and pulled one in-front. However, in his bid to reach the three-figure mark with a six, he deposited the third one down deep mid-wicket's throat with five to get for his hundred.
Dhawan continued to attack as he surpassed his previous best of 137 against South Africa at the MCG during the 2015 World Cup.
He looked good for a double hundred but was out trying to give Cummins the charge but the platform for a big score was set by then.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Priyanka Gandhi takes oath as LS MP after big win from Wayanad
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took oath as a Lok Sabha MP on Thursday following her thumping victory from Kerala's Wayanad in a bypoll.
The 52-year-old, who joins her mother Sonia and brother Rahul as an MP in what is a rare instance of three members of a family together in Parliament, took affirmation in Hindi while holding a copy of the Constitution soon after the House met.
Ravindra Chavan (Cong), who won the Nanded bypoll also took oath in Marathi in the name of God. The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of his father Vasantrao Chavan recently.
Priyanka Gandhi took the plunge into active politics in 2019 and was later appointed Congress general secretary. Five years after that, Priyanka Gandhi begins her journey as an elected representative of the people.
With a winning margin of more than 4.1 lakh votes, she surpassed the tally of her brother Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala.
Priyanka Gandhi's entry into Parliament comes at a difficult time for the party, which has been jolted by electoral defeats in Haryana and Maharashtra. It would be interesting to see if she is able to give a much-needed fillip to the grand old party and help put it back on the electoral track.
Often drawing comparisons with her grandmother Indira Gandhi for their similarity in looks and way of speaking, Priyanka Gandhi has been the go-to campaigner for the party since her entry into active politics and even before that when she campaigned for her mother Sonia and brother Rahul.
Congress leaders from Wayanad handed over the election certificate of the Wayanad parliamentary by-election to Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday and conveyed their best wishes.
Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday won the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll with a thumping margin of over four lakh votes, defeating Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI(M)-led LDF.
VIDEO | Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) takes oath as Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's #Wayanad.#ParliamentWinterSession
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 28, 2024
(Source: Third Party)
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/4JbL0KaShE
further details are awaited.
