Virat Kohli yesterday smashed his 39th one-day international century as India claimed a dramatic six-wicket victory over Australia at a sweltering Adelaide Oval to level the three-match series at 1-1.
Skipper Kohli contributed of 104 of his side’s runs as they successfully chased down their victory target of 299 for the loss of four wickets to send the series into a decider on Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, clearly suffering in the heat, smashed a huge six to bring the scores level and reach his half-century, before scoring the winning run with four balls to spare.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Very pleased,” Kohli said. “It was a really tough day. M.S. [Dhoni] in the end was tired as well. We need a good day’s rest, a good day’s travel, and then we’ll recuperate and get ready for the MCG.”
Shaun Marsh had earlier scored a sparkling 131, his second century in three outings in the format, to drive the hosts to 298-9 in their 50 overs in the heat of the afternoon when temperatures soared well above the 40°C mark.
Kohli took over under the lights on what remained a muggy evening and took his century off 108 balls, pumping his first toward the dressing room after taking two runs to square-leg to reach the milestone.
He hit five fours and two sixes in his 112-ball innings, but left disappointed after smacking a Jhye Richardson delivery straight to Glenn Maxwell on the deep-midwicket boundary in the 44th over.
Dhoni (55 not out) had played within himself as he kept Kohli company in a partnership of 82, but hit a six for his first boundary soon after his captain departed and added 57 with Dinesh Karthik (25 not out) to get the tourists over the line.
“I think we hung on really well, but when you come up against a side that’s in form like India ... you know you have to keep taking wickets and when the old pro Dhoni is there at the end it’s tough,” Australia captain Aaron Finch said.
Finch won the toss for the second successive match, but that was as far as his luck went and he departed for 6 as he did on Saturday when the hosts won the series opener in Sydney by 34 runs.
Usman Khawaja had put 21 runs on the board before being brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Ravindra Jadeja at cover-point.
Marsh and Glenn Maxwell put on 94 runs off 66 balls for the sixth wicket to accelerate the scoring in a partnership that took Marsh to his seventh one-day century.
Maxwell blasted 48 off 37 balls before he holed out to Karthik at long-off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with figures of 4-45.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS