2nd ODI: India beat Australia by 8 runs to take 2-0 lead
Nagpur, Mar 5: 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, here Tuesday.
Pacer Vijay Shankar scalped the last two Australian batsmen in the final over in which Australia needed to score 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.
Chasing 251, Australia were 240 for eight when Shankar got rid of dangerous Marcus Stoinis (52) in the very first ball of the 50th over and castled Adam Zampa in the third ball to trigger celebrations in the Indian camp.
Before that, pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/19), who is ever-reliable in death overs, dismissed Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins in space of three balls in the 46th over and conceded just one run in the 48th over, playing a crucial role in India's win after the spinners had choked the Australians in the middle overs.
It was Stoinis who had kept the visitors in hunt as he resisted the unrelenting Indian attack with aplomb and added 47-runs for the sixth wicket with Alex Carey (22).
Kohli's 40th ODI century steered India to a competitive 250 after a middle-order collapse on a dry surface at the VCA stadium but it proved to be just enough in the end as India earned the win with just three balls to spare.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 with third match slated for Friday in Ranchi.
The Indian skipper was in good touch and played some delightful drives whenever the ball was pitched up. In conditions which tested the fitness of each and 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 which will rank among one of his top ODI knocks in recent times.
Australia were off to a fluent start with openers Aaron Finch (37) and Usman Khawaja (38) adding 83 runs at a decent pace but the spinners led by Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (3/54) not only put the brakes on run-rate but also hurt the visitors by taking wickets intermittently.
Kuldeep broke the opening stand by trapping Finch and later sent back dangerous Glenn Maxwell (4) and Carey while Jadhav and Jadeja accounted for Khawaja and Shaun Marsh respectively.
Stoinis and Carey took the Aussie chase deep with their dogged batting but Kuldeep turned the tide in India's favour by dismissing the latter.
After the first innings, it was clear that spinners will shape the outcome of the match and Kuldeep along with Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav did strangulate the Australian innings.
Between overs 13 and 33 the Indian bowlers conceded just one boundary.
Kuldeep, who was the most impressive bowler on show, was taken to cleaners by the two Aussies who creamed off 15 runs in the 43rd over to ease some pressure.
The two batsmen showed tremendous grit under pressure but Kuldeep provided the much-needed breakthrough by castling Carey, who dragged it on his stumps.
Earlier, Kohli steadily build the Indian innings even as he saw the fall of colleagues Shikhar Dhawan (21) and Ambati Rayudu (18).
Dhawan looked in good touch as he too hit some crushing boundaries before being trapped by part-timer Maxwell.
Rayudu struggled to rotate strike as the ball was not coming on to the bat and was eventually adjudged leg before off Lyon.
Kohli got a good ally in Vijay Shankar (46 off 41) with whom he added 81 runs for the fourth wicket but the latter was unfortunately run out when he backed up too far at the non-striker's end to a Kohli straight drive.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa then got rid of Kedar Jadhav (11) and M S Dhoni (0) off successive balls but Kohli held one end up.
He completed his hundred by cutting one from Nathan Coulter-Nile to the square boundary.
The innings approaching the end, acceleration was required but Ravindra Jadeja could only manage 21 off 40 balls and was soon removed by Cummins. Kohli was finally dismissed while trying to pull Pat Cummins.
Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah too perished in a jiffy and India could not even bat for full 50 overs.
Brief scores:
India: 250 all out in 48.2 overs (Virat Kohli 116; Pat Cummins 4/29).
Australia: 242 all out in 49.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 52; Kuldeep Yadav 3/54).
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Justice Sanjiv Khanna appointed next CJI, oath on Nov 11
New Delhi, Oct 24: Justice Sanjiv Khanna was on Thursday appointed the 51st Chief Justice of India.
He will take oath on November 11, a day after incumbent Justice D Y Chandrachud demits office on attaining the age of 65.
Justice Chandrachud took over as the CJI on November 8, 2022.
Justice Khanna will have a tenure of a little over six months as CJI and would demit office on May 13, 2025.
"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President, after consultation with Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India as Chief Justice of India with effect from 11th November, 2024," Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal posted on X.
Justice Khanna was appointed an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005 and was made a permanent judge in 2006. On January 18, 2019, he was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.
Born on May 14, 1960, he studied law at the Campus Law Centre of Delhi University.
Some of the notable judgments of Justice Khanna in the Supreme Court include upholding the use of electronic voting machines in elections, saying the devices were secure and eliminated booth capturing and bogus voting.
He was also part of the five-judge bench that declared the electoral bond scheme, meant for funding of political parties, as unconstitutional.
Justice Khanna was a part of the five-judge bench, which upheld the Centre's 2019 decision abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution which granted a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Justice Khanna, who is the senior-most judge after the outgoing CJI, and the executive chairman of the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA), had granted interim bail to the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, an accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam cases, for campaigning in Lok Sabha elections.
He is the nephew of former apex court judge H R Khanna, who was part of the landmark verdict propounding the basic structure doctrine in Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973.
The retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65 years, while high court judges demit office at the age of 62 years.
The Centre recently asked CJI Chandrachud to name his successor.
According to the memorandum of procedure (MoP) -- a set of documents guiding appointment, elevation and transfer of high court and Supreme Court judges -- the law minister writes to the CJI to name his or her successor.
Law Minister Meghwal had written to CJI Chandrachud asking him to name his successor.
The MoP says the senior-most judge of the apex court is considered fit to hold the office of the CJI and the views of the outgoing head of the judiciary have to be sought "at an appropriate time".
The MoP, however, does not specify the time limit for the initiation of the process of recommending the name of the successor CJI.
In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President, after consultation with Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India as Chief Justice of India with effect from 11th…
— Arjun Ram Meghwal (@arjunrammeghwal) October 24, 2024
