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After India put the finishing touches on a thumping 99-run win over Australia in the second of the ongoing three-match ODI series, on Sunday, star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on Marnus Labuschagne's dismissal during the visitors' reply to India's humongous target, saying he was pleased to create uncertainty in the minds of the visiting batters.
India outplayed Australia with both bat and ballto secure the ODI series 2-0 after winning the second match through the DuckworthLewisStern (DLS) method at Indore's Holkar Cricket Stadium. While the brief rain interruption took some overs out of the second innings and saw the Aussie set a revised target, the outcome of the match was never in doubt after speedster Prasidh Krishna rocked the visitors with two early wickets. Shedding some light into the ball that ended Labuschagne's brief stay at the crease, Ashwin said he employed a subtle change of grip to bowl the carom ball and the off-break during the match, adding, in retrospect, that he should have done it a lot more. Ashwin added that through his subtle variations of pace and length, he was able to induce both edges off the Aussie batters. "They had nothing to lose after the break, they had to go hard and hit a boundary in every over. Chasing 400 runs in 50 overs is completely different. From my side, I tried to keep my length perfectly and also tried to change pace. I think Marnus tried to play a reverse sweep before that so I was expecting him to reverse and try to slog speed, so I wanted to keep my pace up and down just in case he gave his stumps away. The angle that I am creating by using my cut finger to bowl the carom ball and the off break I should have done it a long time ago but I am doing it now. I was pleased with the amount of uncertainty I was able to create I wanted to bring both edges into play which I was able to do," Ashwin said in a video posted by the BCCI. Though Prasidh made early inroads into the Aussie line-up with an incisive and hostile opening burst, Ashwin was the star of the show for India, picking up three wickets in his seven-over spell at the expense of just41 runs. Put into bat first, India, propelled by swashbuckling centuries from Shubhman Gill and Shreyas Iyer and a sensational knock by Suryakumar Yadav, set Australia a mammoth target of 399. Shubman Gill (104 in 97 balls, six fours and four sixes) and Shreyas lyer (105 in 90 balls, 11 fours and three sixes) laid the foundation for a huge total with a partnership in excess of 200 runs. 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) took India to399/5 in 50 overs. Cameron Green took two wickets for Australia but gave away 103 runs in the process. Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa took a wicket apiece for the visitors. Chasing 400 runs, Australia was reduced to 9/2 before the heavens opened up, impeding the proceedings. Following the resumption of action, the target was revised to 317 of 33 overs. An 80-run stand between David Warner (53 in 39 balls, seven fours and a six) and Marnus Labuschagne (27) stabilised the Assue chase for a while. However, with their exits, wickets kept tumbling and the Aussies were reduced to 140/8. A 77-run explosive partnership thereafter between Sean Abbott (54 in 36 balls with four boundaries and five sixes) and Josh Hazlewood (23) entertained the audience before the Aussies were eventually bundled out for 217 in 28.2 overs. The two teams will meet again in the third ODI at Rajkot on Wednesday. (ANI)
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