Australia set target of 307 runs for India

Kochi, Oct 2 (UNI) Australia recovered after suffering two early blows, to post a challenging total of 306 in their alloted 50 overs against India in the second ODI of the seven match Future Cup series here today.

Put into bat by Indian skipper M S Dhoni at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here, the host struck early blows with stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist and one down Brad Hodge returning to the pavilion early in the innings.

Left hander Mathew Hayden (75, 89 balls, 5 fours, 3 sixes), Andrew Symonds (87, 84 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes), Michael Clark (27, 38 balls, 3 fours) and Brad Haddin (87, 69 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes) rescued Australia.

Hayden and Symonds put on a rescue act adding 94 runs off an equal number of balls. Symonds and Haddin added another 108 runs for the fifth wicket to see the team go past the 300 mark.

Zaheer Khan (1-55), Irfan Pathan (2-47) and the local lad Sreeshanth (3-67) were the main wicket takers for India.

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