Nagpur: Australian pacer Pat Cummins has said that India captain Virat Kohli’s 116 was the difference between the two sides in the second ODI, which the hosts won by eight runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Kohli’s dogged hundred, his 40th in ODIs, helped India to revive their innings and post a competitive 250 after a middle-order collapse here, Tuesday.
Later Indian bowlers, especially Jasprit Bumrah (2-29) and Vijay Shankar (2-15) held their nerves in the death overs to limit Australia to 242 and seal the deal for the home team.
“I think he (Kohli) was the difference, for sure. We had a couple of really good partnerships, Marcus (Stonis) got 50-odd, couple of guys got really good starts but we didn’t have that one guy (player) who got on with it,” said Cummins, who returned with figures of 4-29.
“So for them to have someone like Virat in at the end, facing lots of balls, he was probably the difference between them getting low-200 or 250. (It was a) really good innings,” he added.
“(And he) just played really good shots. I thought for the most part we bowled quite well to him but especially the way he played some of the spin, which looked quite tough to play on that wicket, was certainly the difference,” said Cummins.
The 25-year-old pacer also said Kohli is someone ‘who just looks in complete command of his game at the moment’.
“He batted beautifully, he didn’t give any chances, he looks like he got so much time. If someone bowls well he’s happy to wait on them and cash in later, he doesn’t miss out on too many bad balls,” Cummins added.
PTI