Kohli, Dhoni steer India to series-leveling win

It is evil to attribute India's win to anything other than Virat Kohli's 39th ODI hundred. But months before a World Cup, especially when hundreds from Kohli are more inevitable than stunning, it's difficult to look past MS Dhoni's unbeaten 55 off 54 balls in a successful run chase, it being the second-highest at the Adelaide Oval. India won the second ODI by six wickets, and handsomely levelled the three-match series to set up a fitting series finale at the Melbourne Cricket Ground come Friday.

"He can still win matches for India," Sanjay Manjrekar said on air when Dhoni hit that six in the last over to take the score level. Seven runs were needed going into the last over, Jason Behrendorff had the ball, and it all looked set for a tight finish until Dhoni rolled back the clock, hit a six over long-on and pulled off an encore of his feat against Clint McKay at this very venue in 2012. This was a reassuring chase for India after the Sydney blooper and it needed two greats in Kohli and Dhoni to come to the party.

It's easy to look at the scorecard and make an assumption that India always win when one of the top three scores big. While that was a big driving force today, the crux of India's win lay in the partnership between Kohli and Dhoni, the latter coming into this match accused of consuming too many deliveries for very little returns.

When Glenn Maxwell had Ambati Rayudu caught in the deep in the 31st over, Kohli sensed the need to up the ante, knowing better than anyone else that Dhoni bats the best in his company and that he needs time in this rut of form. The pair pushed through quick singles, and the urgency of this fourth-wicket partnership played into India's hands. And into Dhoni's, who found form with a vintage six in the last over. There's hope in India's World Cup campaign again. And there's hope in Dinesh Karthik, who at a point of time outbatted Dhoni at the other end with 25* off 14 balls.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma had earlier laid the platform for Kohli to come and be Kohli. The opening stand worth 47 runs came off 45 balls, as Australia's quicks struggled to make a breakthrough. Not every day you have India 4 for 3. And when you don't, you pay.

India still are in search of two personnel: a number-four batsman and a third seamer who can bowl the middle overs for them. Ambati Rayudu was disappointing, stuttering to 24 off 36, but even more so was Mohammed Siraj, who conceded 76 runs in his 10 overs on debut. Kohli had no option but to let him bowl his quota of overs because of Rayudu's suspect bowling action.

To be fair, Siraj could have had a wicket if Rohit Sharma hadn't dropped Maxwell on 41 at short extra cover, but that would have been no compensation for the shortish length Siraj bowled on a slow pitch, allowing Maxwell among other Australian batsmen to cut and pull at will.

Australia's defeat also means that the last four ODI hundreds by Shaun Marsh have all come in losses. But that shouldn't take away the 35-year-old's streak of red-hot form, that saw him finish on 131 in a welcome reminder of what he means to this malnourished Australian side. The hosts were held back to 298/9 in 50 overs only because India picked four wickets for three runs towards the end, keeping the target just under 300.

Glenn Maxwell found form too, scoring a quickfire 48 off 37 balls to put to bed a lot of noise around his batting position. He still came out to bat at No. 7 but Marcus Stoinis's wicket in the 37th over meant that he had enough time to settle in and go for his shots later. He was also helped by Siraj's erratic lines, with the 24-year-old pacer's inexperience coming to the fore. That Kohli fielded in the deep, far away to offer a few words of wisdom, while his young seamer conceded runs didn't help either.

Although India started with pristinely tight lines, thanks to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami who also accounted for Aaron Finch and Alex Carey respectively, Australia managed to recover with half-century stands for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth wickets -- sort of a record in Australia. Usman Khawaja's superb run out at the non-striker's end by a throw from Ravindra Jadeja at point gave India its third wicket, and it was Jadeja again who got Peter Handscomb stumped to deliver the fourth blow. Stoinis was picked out by Dhoni when he tried to slog Shami across the line, bringing Maxwell to the crease and ushering a quick-fire partnership with Marsh that even left Kuldeep Yadav looking short of effective. The left-arm legspinner finished with figures of 0 for 66, going wicketless for the fifth time in his career.

It was the death bowling that had, in a way, lost India the game in Sydney, and it was the death bowling in Adelaide that redeemed it for them. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had conceded 54 runs in his last five overs then and he picked three wickets in his last three overs here, finishing with 4 for 45 in a ravishing return to good ol' form.

In a nutshell, it was yet another masterclass from Virat Kohli that dwarfed anything Australia had in the tank. Their four main bowlers conceded runs at an economy in excess of 5.90, allowing India and Kohli to rebuild at pace every time they lost a wicket and that's where the match was won and lost.

And yes, Dhoni can still win matches for India. Surely.

Brief Scores: Australia 298/9 in 50 overs (Marsh 131, Maxwell 48; Bhuvneshwar 4-45, Shami 3-58) lost to India 299/4 in 49.2 overs (Kohli 104, Dhoni 55*; Maxwell 1-16) by 6 wickets