Kuldeep Yadav bowled a game-changing 38th over to complement a K.L. Rahul blinder as India levelled the series with a comfortable 36-run victory over Australia in second ODI in Rajkot on Friday.
Put into bat, India put up a much-improved batting performance with Rahul's blistering 52-ball-80 taking India to 340 for six after Shikhar Dhawan (96 off 90 balls) and skipper Virat Kohli (78 off 76 balls) laid the foundation.
Australia were in the game till Steven Smith (98) was at the crease but Yadav's ninth over turned out to be a game-changer as he first dismissed wicketkeeper Alex Carey and then had a delivery that bounced extra to have Smith played on. The visitors were all out for 304 in 49.1 overs.
Yadav's final figures of 2 for 65 may not be mind-blowing but did just enough damage to see that the third ODI in Bengaluru does not lose context.
Mohammed Shami (3/77 in 10 overs) and Navdeep Saini (2/62 in 10 overs) then bowled some exquisite toe-crushers to put an end to the contest. Jasprit Bumrah (1/32 in 9.1 overs) was economical as ever.
However on a placid track, Smith, a proverbial thorn in India's flesh, was again proving to be dangerous, along with Marnus Labuschagne (44) as they added 96 in quick time.
Ravindra Jadeja (2/58 in 10 overs) got rid of Labuschagne to upset Smith's rhythm after he had hit nine fours and a six off 102 balls.
However, the match also brought to fore Rahul's emergence as proper keeper-batsman option for white-ball cricket as his extra runs, coming in at no. 5, proved to be valuable in the end.
Not to forget his reasonably decent keeping, effecting a stumping and also taking two catches. More importantly, his keeping down the leg-side was far better than Rishabh Pant, who is currently recovering from concussion.
Earlier, it was Dhawan, who missed a well-deserved ton by a whisker but laid a solid platform for the aggressive duo of skipper Kohli and Rahul to ensure a commanding total.
Back in form since the last T20 encounter against Sri Lanka, the senior opener looked solid in his 90-ball-96 while Kohli, back at his familiar one drop position, held the middle-order with a 78 off 76 balls and Rahul (80 off 52 balls) provided the final flourish in what was much improved batting performance from the hosts.
Dhawan added 81 for the opening stand with Rohit Sharma (42), but as fate would have it, both the openers suffered from on-field injuries, with the former getting hit on the rib-cage trying to fend a Pat Cummins bouncer while Sharma hurting his shoulder while trying to stop a boundary.
