VISAKHAPATNAM, Oct 20 (Agencies): The target of 290 appeared to be stiff, especially when India were wobbling at 35 for 2 in the ninth over, but Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh maintained their sang-froid to get India close before the adventurous Suresh Raina sealed the win in style.
Kohli, in particular, impressed.
He not only lost Yuvraj in the 34th over with India still 118 runs adrift of the target but also, by then, was suffering from severe cramps and was forced to bat with a runner.
If those hurdles fazed him, he didn't show it and went on to clinch the game in the company of the Raina.
Kohli's nerves, if any, must have eased after Raina collected 17 runs from 38th over of the innings, bowled by James Hopes.
Raina struck three fours -a glanced boundary preceded two mowed hits to wide midwicket boundary - to reduce the target to 81 from 12 overs and when he picked up two more fours in the 40th over, India required 66 runs from the final ten.
Kohli's personal big moment came in the 42nd over when he brought up his ton with a crisp square-drive and screamed in glee.
And the game was all but over in the 43rd over when Kohli swung Clint Mckay for two fours and a massive heaved-six over long-on.
Post that shot, even his limp towards square-leg seemed to acquire a swagger.
It was indeed a special night for Kohli who has now moved ahead of Rohit Sharma in the pecking order.
Though India lost Kohli, who holed out to long-on, and MS Dhoni, Raina guided India home.
India chose to conserve wickets and reserved their assault for the second half of the chase.
They reached 117 for the loss of the openers and required another 173 runs from 25 overs.
When Clint Mckay removed the openers with a double strike - Shikhar Dhawan was bowled for a second-ball duck when he pushed outside the line of a delivery that straightened and M Vijay edged one to the keeper - India were wobbling at 35 for 2 from 8.2 overs.
It wasn't entirely dissimilar to Australia's position at the corresponding stage, and India's no 3 and no 4 - Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh - revived the innings with a consolidation job.
They chose to play it calmly with singles and two's.
However, as you would expect with such a high asking run-rate, the Indian pair did play a few big shots to ease the pressure.
Kohli pulled Mitchell Starc for a four before flicking and square-driving John Hastings for successive boundaries.
Yuvraj whiplashed Hastings over midwicket, lifted Starc to the straight boundary and swept Nathan Hauritz for another four.
Australia tried to keep it as tight, with the seamers hitting the back of length and bowling as straight as possible.
McKay got the ball to straighten while the taller Hastings focused on hitting the deck.
The debutant Starc, who had a nice fluent high-arm action and bowled from close to the stumps, was given short two-over spells and James Hopes, as ever, bowled quite a few slower ones.
The spinners- Hauritz and Steven Smith- found turn on this track and didn't leak too many runs in the initial overs as India continued with the consolidation mode.
It was ruthless violence in the end but the Australian innings had three distinct phases.
They crawled to 16 for 2 in eight overs; they then consolidated, courtesy a fine 144-run partnership between Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, to 205 for 3 from 45 overs, before exploding in the death overs.
Australia looted 84 runs in the final five overs and Cameron White whacked 70 runs in his last 24 deliveries.
It was as brutal as it gets.
White swung Praveen Kumar for two sixes to the straight boundary in the 48th over before he bossed Vinay Kumar in some style.
There were four massive sixes against the hapless bowler spread over two overs.
He cleared the front foot and walloped a full-pitched delivery to the straight boundary for the first six.
The second fell into the second tier over long-on and the third was swiped over the midwicket boundary.
The fourth, off the final ball of the innings, showcased his skill: It was yet another full toss and he swat-flicked it over the wide midwicket boundary.
It would be tempting to solely focus on the surge in the last five overs but it was all set up by a superb stand between Hussey and Clarke.
The field settings reflected the slowness of the track and the difficulty in run-making.
Short midwicket and short cover were retained throughout, and mid-off and mid-on were far straighter than normal.
Even MS Dhoni stood up to the stumps to the seamers for a couple of overs.
For the spinners, Dhoni had a very straight mid-off and a long-off.
The pitch required a batsman to either adopt an unconventional hitting technique to break free from the shackles or use his wrists to work the angles.
It was Hussey who increased the run-flow with three crisp shots: In the ninth over he square-drove Praveen to the point boundary and unfurled a cover drive and an on-drive to collect two more fours in the next bowled by Vinay.
An inspired Clarke soon produced the shot of the afternoon: A classy on-the-up punchy drive past Praveen that defied the slow pitch.
Soon, Clarke was in his element: He often took couple of steps down the track and tried to wrist seam and spin into gaps.
One other shot stood out in the first half: Clarke sashayed down the track to lift Yuvraj Singh inside-out to the extra cover boundary.
It was a mature show from Clarke in the second half of the game.
There might have been a temptation to take risks and worry about the ideal target to set, but he seemed very clear in his head about the way ahead.
He continued to deal in singles and worked the angles well.
Now and then, he would play a big shot to collect a boundary.
You felt all along the afternoon that Clarke was waiting for the Powerplays and he capitalised in style.
He crashed Vinay to the cover boundary before nearly decapitating the umpire Billy Bowden with a powerful straight drive.
It was around this time that he passed the baton to White.
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