Published: Mar 06, 2019, 06:47 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 06, 2019, 06:47 PM (IST)
There’s a bad omen that’s haunting Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis. With 26 ODIs, Stoinis is now 17th on the list of the Australians with the most 50-plus scores in ODI losses, tied with Geoff Marsh, Mark Taylor and Graeme Wood. Among those was Tuesday’s eight-run defeat in the second ODI against India at Nagpur.
Stoinis top scored with 52, but fell to Vijay Shankar in a decisive final over. “Just a bit of an empty feeling coming to the end of the game,” Stoinis was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Wednesday.
“We did well, fought hard, got close but we didn’t get the result we wanted. Hindsight is a beautiful thing … you think if this partnership goes longer or you take a risk earlier (what would have happened), all that sort of stuff. You never know what’s going to happen.
India are eyeing an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series at MS Dhoni’s hometown in Ranchi – venue for the third ODI. “We haven’t had a debrief yet … when emotions are going it’s probably best to let that settle then have a more relaxed conversation the next day,” Stoinis said.
Virat Kohli was the different at Nagpur with the India captain notching up his 40th ODI century in a low-scoring thriller. Kohli made 116 in what was a masterful innings that won him the Man of the Match award. Dhoni too has been going through a purple patch. He showed extreme composure to finish 59 not out and shepherd his side to victory in Hyderabad after they slumped to 4/99. “Virat and MS play very different roles, but they make sure they get the job done for the team,” Stoinis said.
“Two of the best players in the world … so there’s things to learn from them and it’s probably fortunate we’re playing them so frequently leading up to a World Cup.”
