When Ashton Turner walked in to bat, Australia were staring at a stiff target to chase still―129 runs in 85 balls. Suddenly, what was earlier a strong, calm response by Usman Khawaja and Pete Handscombe to a target of 358 set by hosts India became a clinical Twenty20 chase helmed by Turner. It was not surprising. After all, the 26-year-old from Western Australia has a reputation for being a T20 finisher. Unlike Glenn Maxwell, who preceded him, Turner chose to play clean, smart and big hits over the ropes mostly. It seemed Australia had found an answer to dealing with death-over specialists like Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Turner's unbeaten knock of 84 in 43 balls came in his second One Day International match. He had debuted for Australia in the first ODI in Hyderabad. In Mohali, he hit five sixes and five boundaries to take Australia home with 13 balls to spare.
It can safely be stated that Turner took Team India by surprise with his ability to hit so cleanly. With just one more ODI series left for Australia to give final shape to its World Cup squad, Turner has given Australian selectors the option of having a specialist, impactful finisher in the lower middle order. An established T20 player in the Big Bash League, Turner will also be turning out for Rajasthan Royals in the forthcoming season of the Indian Premier League.
While Turner was turning it on in the middle, the Aussie dressing room was a picture of stillness, revealed Peter Handscomb. “It was awesome. We have seen him do it in Big Bash, to do it at the world stage, it's phenomenal. No one moved around, the small superstitions we follow came out. He picked the bowlers beautifully.” He termed Turner's knock beautiful and mature.
Describing Turner's innings as one of composure, Shikhar Dhawan, the other centurion of the day besides Handscomb, said, “He is a new player, but we already knew that dew had come. Because of dew, the ball was not gripping and, of course, he played a really good knock and took the game away, but he couldn’t have played those shots had there not been dew. Credit goes to him that he played a great knock. His shots were on the roof and, yes, he played really well.”
Turner is a product of Cricket Australia's junior programme and has risen through the ranks by establishing his credentials in domestic cricket back home. He has skippered Western Australia and is highly regarded as one of the future stars of Australia. His knock in the Mohali ODI marked a start to that bright future.
