Daijiworld Media Network

Nagpur, Oct 30: An excellent run chase once again by the top three batsmen set it up for the Indians. Dhawan started well; he was once again lucky tonight, being dropped twice on 19 and 56, as he scored his 4th ODI hundred. He was supported well by Rohit Sharma and the pair added 178 runs for the 1st wicket. Rohit missed out on his ton, dismissed by a rank half-tracker from Finch. The stage was set for Virat Kohli. He continued with the form he showed in Rajasthan as the target came down with every over. Dhawan was dismissed shortly after his hundred and India suffered a minor hiccup when the two out of form batsmen, Yuvraj Singh and Raina were dismissed in a Johnson over.

Kohli is the Man of the Match for his 66-ball 115 which is also the third fastest ton by an Indian.

Dhoni: 'We need to think if 350 is the new 280 or 300 in ODIs. Bowlers are trying their best but still can't contain the batsmen. We knew that there will be dew. Now we can break the game easily after 30 overs, the last 20 overs we can chase anywhere around 170 to 180. Shikhar and Rohit batted really well. Shikhar was brilliant in his hundred but Rohit stuck it out even though he was not getting the boundaries to get the partnership going with Shikhar. Virat was simply brilliant, they were attacking and he counter-attacked. It was difficult for a new batsman to go out there and score. The ground in Bangalore is known for big scores, even 200 is not enough in T20 games. So it will be another high scoring game.

India are the only side in history to successfully chase 350 targets twice in a bilateral ODI series. Unbelievable!

Stat: A special day for MSD as well. 147th match as India captain, going past Ganguly's 146. A magnificent win to celebrate the occasion.
 
Sports commentator Alan Wilkins has tweeted, 'I first saw Virat Kohli in Kuala Lumpur in 2008 in the ICC Under 19 World Cup. He was special then, now he is the World's best!'

Former Indian opening batsman Aakash Chopra tweets, 'It's quite evident that Dhoni is seriously worried about where this game is heading if rules aren't tweaked a little to help bowlers. #fact'

Kohli: 'It was nice to win. Shikhar and Rohit gave us a good start. I got going with couple of drives and the slog sweep. I told Shikhar to play through and I would attack as he was suffering with cramps. I always like to analyse when a target is given. I like to play under lights. Bengaluru is ground which supports both the batsmen and the bowlers, it will be another good game of cricket.' 
 
Bailey: 'Its disappointing, Virat played an unbelievable knock. It was a beautiful wicket and the batters did a good job. But Virat comes in and makes light work of it. We fought back well after the first wicket partnership and when a guy bats like that you can't do much. The best thing is to get to couple of early wickets. 'Yeah mate, but we keep losing' (When Shastri asked him on his feeling of being the highest run-getter ever in a bilateral ODI series)'

Rohit: 'With the dew coming in, we always knew 350 was chaseable. We were positive in our minds and then Virat came and chased it down. We complement each other really well on the field as well as off the field. This is just the start and we hope to keep building on it. Dhawan was hitting the ball really well today and my job was to give him strike as much as possible. Our plan is to keep things really simple. And we have done that so far successfully.'

Dhawan: 'We batted really well. It was a big target. But the wicket was good and we kept rotating the strike. The plan was to keep playing our shots and do our job. I should have stayed and finished the match for my team. It was a really bad shot selection on my part when I got out. Hopefully I will be able to do it next time.'

If India looked shaky at that stage, they also had the calmness of M S Dhoni and the sublime form of Virat Kohli out in the middle, the pair battled through the tough situation before finishing it off in a hurry. Both teams now move to Bangalore for the decider in what has been a cracking series.