All-rounder Vijay Shankar became the surprising hero for India as the hosts defeated Australia by eight runs at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur o༒n Tuesd♉ay.
With 11 runs needed from the final over and Marcus Stoinis in top form,🎃 Shankar kept his calm and with two wickets in three balls, he was able to clinch the match for the Men in Blue.
The two frontline seamers – Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami – were both done with their quota of ten overs and although Kedar Jadhav had two overs left, Kohli handed the ball to Shankar and he did not disappoint.
On the first ball of the ove🥃r, Shankar trapped Stoinis in fron🔯t of the wickets (LBW) for 52 and then followed it up with the wicket of Adam Zampa on the third ball of the over as he castled the tail-ender for a duck.
Earlier in the day, Virat Kohli waged a lone battle to haul India to 250. The Indian captain was classy – he ran hard and pierced the gap for nine sweetly timed boundaries. Kohli did not hit a single six in his innings and the only aerial shot resulted in his dismissal in the 48th over. India could add only two more runs to the total but Kohli had ensured his bowlers had enough to defend.
Kohli also became the fa𓆏stest to 9000 inte🥃rnational runs as a captain.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
👏👏👏
— BCCI (@BCCI)
The bꦛoys are on a roll! What a way to win 500th ODI. Congratulations for bringing another win home and making it 2-0.
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina)
Brilliant century from V𓆉irat , outstanding death over bowling from Bumrah and Vijay Shankar holding his nerves really well in the end. Bahut badhiya jeet.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)
Another win 🇮🇳👏👏👏 🎐top bowling performance by all the bowlers 𒁃 👏👏👏😊 great team effort 🇮🇳2-0
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3)
Outstanding innings from Virat but really impressed by how Vijay Shankar soaked the pressure in the last over . Jasprit Bumrah's final 2 overs for just 2 runs was a great exhibition of death over bowling. Congratulations Team India on a fabulous win
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281)
Solid performance from the boys, especially from Captian Marvel. 💯
Let's make it a clean sweep!! 🇮🇳— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa)
Ma🌟rvellous victory. Jasprit Bumrah take a bow, just 2 runs in his last 2 overs, outstanding stuff and this is a great win. Feel veryಞ happy for Vijay Shankar, he has got a good head on his shoulder
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif)
Gr🎃eat bowling effort! Hats off to and who won it for India wi🍌thout any doubt! 🇮🇳
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh)
Vijay Shanꩵkarꦇ ki ticket for World Cup is confirmed
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh)
Well bowled vijay shankar and great🀅 leadership by Virat. A nailbiter finish for the crowd and great result for team In﷽dia
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)
All🍸 Vijay Shankar has to do now is avoid invites for Koffee with Kaꦺran.
— Abijit Ganguly (@AbijitG)
No more Doubting Thomases for Vijay Shankar now
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73)
Vijay Shankar guides India to an 8-run win in Nagpur 🙂
SCORECARD:— betvisa69.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
The ground Shankar is covering with the bat is getting lost with theꦕ ball. Soon, India will have to s𓂃tart considering him as a genuine batsman. Won’t give you 3 in a T20 or 6 in an ODI.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Vijay Shanker 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🍌🏻👏🏻�🍎�🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇮🇳🇦🇺🏏
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23)
Tough loss for 🇦🇺 but a brilliant🌠 win from �🌠�🇳 🏏
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23)
So Virat Kohli reveals that he wanted Vijay Shankar to bowl 46th over but Rohit & Dhoni insisted to let Bumrah & Shani bowl in tandem for next 4 overs as they can get wickets & peg Aust🧜ralia back. And if situation arises, Shankar would bowl 50th one.
— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra)
Undortunate end to Vijay Shankar’s innings. But he’s been verꦛy impressive today, which wouldn’t have been l🍒ost on his partner and captain
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)
Vijay Shankar has been very impressive since the NZ series.✔️all the boxes to bat in the middle order for me.
bat when team under preasure,rotate strike vs spin/pace,can change gears. With his bowling can be an asset but need to remember, he's a batsman who can bowl— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7)
Late starter in ODI cricket, Vijay Shankar making a strong surge fo✨r a place in the Wor♔ld Cup squad
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)
