CWC 2019: IND vs AUS – Rohit, Shikhar join hands to rewrite records
The Indian team sailed to their second successive victory of the 2019 World Cup at the Oval yesterday. Taking on the defending champions, Australia, India posted a mammoth total of 352/5. In reply, the Australian batsmen never got going and fell short by 36 runs in the end. The one-sided drubbing of the five-time World Cup winners made India worthy of a few incredible records, most of which belonged to the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
The most successful starters
With the opening stand of 127 runs in the first innings, the pair of Rohit and Shikhar went past the West Indian legends, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. The Caribbean opening partners previously held the record of scoring most runs against the Aussies (1152 runs from 29 innings). The Indian duo now has 1273 runs from just 22 innings together. This was also their sixth hundred-plus opening partnership versus Australia, which is currently the joint-highest with Greenidge-Haynes.
Hitman hits Australia hard
The knock of 57 runs from 70 balls yesterday took Rohit’s run tally against the Australians past 2000 runs in ODI cricket. Completing the milestone in just 37 innings made him the fastest to do so. Only four batsmen so far have achieved this feat, and Rohit topped the list by surpassing Sachin Tendulkar who had taken 40 innings for 2000 runs. He currently averages 61.73 against the yellow team.
Shikhar continues to dominate in ICC tournaments
The left-hander scored a scintillating 117 yesterday and was adjudged as the player of the match for his performance. This was his 17th hundred in ODI cricket and fourth against the Aussies. The Delhi opener turns into a run-machine when it comes to the ICC tournaments. In 20 innings of World Cup and Champions Trophy combined, Dhawan has scored 1238 runs at an average of 65.15 with six centuries and four fifties. This was also his third century at the Oval. Only Marcus Trescothick has scored these many at this venue. No other batsman has more than one century.
Australia’s streak comes to an end
Five-time World Cup winners, Australia, have been a dominant force in the global tournament. They were so powerful that they remained unbeaten in two consecutive World Cups of 2003 and 2007. Yesterday’s India score of 352/5 was the highest score against Aussies in the World Cup history and only the second instance of a team scoring 300-plus against them. The failed chase also broke Australia’s streak of 19 successful chases which had begun in 1999 World Cup.
Warner slows down, Carey accelerates
The orange cap winner of IPL 2019, David Warner registered his slowest half-century in ODI cricket yesterday. He took 77 balls to reach the 50-run mark. His second slowest fifty came against Afghanistan just a few days ago (74 balls). On the other hand, Carey’s fifty from 25 balls was Australia’s second-fastest in the World Cups (Best: Glenn Maxwell – 21 balls). Carey’s half-century is currently the fastest of 2019 World Cup.
Costly Starc
Mitchell Starc ended up his bowling spell with the figures of 10-0-74-1. These are the worst bowling figures for an Australian bowler in the World Cups. The previous record was held by Ashley Mallet who conceded 72 runs against Sri Lanka in the 1975 World Cup. However, he had bowled 12 overs in that game.
