Bharat’s win over Australia in the second ODI at Indore ensured
that the team will go into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 as the No. 1
side in the ODI Team Rankings.
Before the start of the series, The Men in Blue needed at least two
wins to go into the marquee event at home at the top.
Bharat reached the ODI Rankings summit after winning the first ODI
against Australia at Mohali. They will now continue to reign supreme across all
formats as the number one team, having already occupied the top spot in Tests
and T20Is.
Bharat is placed at the top spot with 117 rating points, while
Pakistan sit at second with 115 rating points. Australia, on the other hand,
slipped further and is third with 110 points.
This is only the second time in men’s cricketing history that a
side has achieved the No.1 ranking across the formats. Prior to this, only
South Africa had achieved the feat back in August 2012.
Bharat needed to win the second ODI to ensure their reign at the
top of the rankings continues and they did it in some style with a thorough
all-round performance.
Coming to the match, Bharat was put to bat first by Australia. A
200-run partnership for second wicket between Shubman Gill (104 in 97 balls,
six fours and four sixes) and Shreyas Iyer (105 in 90 balls, 11 fours and three
sixes) laid the foundation for something big.
Later, half-centuries from skipper KL Rahul (52 in 38 balls, with
three fours and three sixes) and Suryakumar Yadav (72* in 37 balls with six
fours and six sixes) and a cameo from Ishan Kishan (31 in 18 balls with two
fours and two sixes) pushed Bharat to 399/5 in 50 overs.
Cameron Green took two wickets for Australia but gave away 103
runs. Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa took a wicket each.
In the chase of 400, Australia was reduced to 9/2 and rain
interrupted the action. Following resumption of action, the target was 317 in
33 overs.
An 80-run stand between David Warner (53 in 39 balls, seven fours
and a six) and Marnus Labuschagne (27) stabilised the innings a bit. But after
this, wickets kept falling and the Aussies sunk to 140/8.
A 77-run explosive partnership between Abbott (54 in 36 balls with
four boundaries and five sixes) and Josh Hazlewood (23) entertained the
audience, but the Aussies were bundled out for 217 in 28.2 overs, losing by 99
runs.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers for Bharat with
3/41, with his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja getting 3/42. Prasidh Krishna got
two wickets while Mohammed Shami got one.
Bharat has won the series 2-0 with one match to go. Shreyas Iyer
was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his century.
ANI
