Dhoni first Indian captain to score ODI ton vs Australia

Tags: Australia, India, ODI, Vidarbha Cricket Association, Mohammad Azharuddin



Nagpur's Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium became the 40th Indian ground to host a one-day international, when it staged the second India - Australia ODI in the seven-match series on Wednesday. It also became 174th ground in the world to host an ODI.

The VCA stadium is only the second ground in India to host a day-night match as debut ODI. Delhi's [ Images ] Jawaharlal Nehru [ Images ] stadium is the other stadium to have the honour.

India's total of 354-7 is their highest total against Australia [ Images ], surpassing the previous best of 315 at Bangalore in 2001. It is also the fifth occasion when India scored 300 or more against Australia.

India's 354-7 is the highest total ever recorded against Australia by any team batting first. In fact, it is the second highest total recorded by an opponent against Australia, next only to South Africa's [ Images ] 438-9 at Johannesburg in 2006.

India's 354-7 provides the 12th instance -- the most by any team -- that India scored 350-plus runs. India won on all the 12 occasions!

India's 354-7 is the 40th instance in which a total of 350-plus runs have been scored in all one-day internationals played till date. The highest ever recorded in a one-day international is 443-9 by Sri Lanka [ Images ] against The Netherlands at Amstelveen in 2006.

M S Dhoni [ Images ] is the first Indian captain to score a century against Australia in a one-day international. The previous highest score by an Indian captain against Australia was 93 by Mohammad Azharuddin [ Images ] at Brisbane [ Images ] in 1992.

Dhoni's 124 is also the highest score by any captain against Australia, bettering Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya's [ Images ] 122 at Sydney [ Images ] in 2003.

The following table lists the highest scores by captains against Australia:

	Runs	Balls	Venue	Year
MS Dhoni (Ind)	124	107	Nagpur	2009
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	122	105	Sydney	2003
GC Smith (SA)	119*	124	Centurion	2006
SP Fleming (NZ)	116*	122	Melbourne [ Images ]	1998
MA Atherton (Eng)	113*	149	The Oval	1997

Dhoni's innings is also the highest by a captain-keeper in all ODIs, bettering Adam Gilchrist's [ Images ] 116 against Sri Lanka at Perth in 2006.

Dhoni's is fifth Indian captain to score two or more centuries after Sourav Ganguly [ Images ] (11), Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] (6), Mohammad Azharuddin (4) and Rahul Dravid [ Images ] (2)

Dhoni's hundred is his fifth hundred in his 147th one-day international.

Gautam Gambhir [ Images ] scored his 18th fifty in his 83rd one-day international, and his second fifty against Australia in his 12th match. His highest score against Australia remains 113 at Sydney in 2008.

Suresh Raina's [ Images ] 62 is his 11th fifty in his 73rd one-day international. This is his first fifty against Australia in six matches. In his previous five matches against Australia he aggregated only 49 runs, with 26 as his highest score at Kuala Lumpur in 2006.

Ben Hilfenhaus [ Images ] became the sixth Australian bowler after Michael Lewis, Shane Watson [ Images ], Stuart Clark, Brett Lee [ Images ] (thrice) and Mitchell Johnson [ Images ] (twice), to concede 80 or more runs in an innings. Lewis is on top of the list, conceding 113 runs.

By conceding 83 runs in his 10 over spell, Hilfenhaus equalled Brett Lee's Australian record of conceding most runs against India (at Brisbane on 18-01-2004).

Michael Hussey [ Images ] scored his second successive fifty (53 off 60 balls). This was his 26th fifty in his 122nd one-day international.

Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ], playing in his fifth match, achieved the best bowling performance of his career by taking 3-35. His previous best was 1-39 in his earlier match at Baroda on 25-10-2009.

India achieved their 350th win in 723 one-day internationals. Only Pakistan (381) and Australia (445) have registered more victories than India.

The 99-run win is India's fourth biggest against Australia. The details:

Margin	Venue	Year
118 runs	Chelmsford	1983
118 runs	Indore	2001
107 runs	Perth	1991
99 runs	Nagpur	2009
66 runs	Melbourne	1980