India v Australia: Ashton Turner blitzkrieg provides tasty prospect ahead of Australia's Cricket World Cup defence

James Pavey

India v Australia: Ashton Turner blitzkrieg provides tasty prospect ahead of Australia's Cricket World Cup defence image

Indian fans left the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali scratching their heads, mostly in the thought of their side letting 358 slip, but also to the hand of a guy they'd never heard of before.

They have now, and could see more of him still, with Ashton Turner being picked up by Rajasthan Royals late in the 2019 auction.

In just an hour's work after arriving to the crease on Sunday, Turner helped engineer Australia's highest-ever ODI run chase, and the fifth-highest of all time.

Australia's previous high was the 334 chased down against England at SCG in 2011. That day, the Aussies got there in the final over.

Such was player-of-the-match Turner's blitzkrieg, that in Mohali, Australia had 13 balls to spare.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Turner onslaught follows Handscomb ton as Australia level series

Turner (378 runs at 31.50) was the seventh-highest run-scorer in BBL08, and all players above him bar one - Marcus Stoinis - played more games than him.

However, his season was more miss than hit, registering five single-digit scores in his last six knocks for the Scorchers.

Now, with Australia's World Cup defence just over two months away, and with the squad being named on April 23, Turner has thrown his name up in lights thanks to his effortless Mohali masterclass.

If it wasn't for Stoinis breaking his thumb prior to the match, Turner may not have even played in Mohali at all.

"I turned up to the ground today and Marcus was doing a fitness test... he's got a broken thumb," Turner said after the match.

"He's a pretty tough bloke so I thought he'd get up and play and I'd be running drinks again.

"I feel like I've had a great opportunity to hit lots of balls in the nets and get used to these conditions behind the scenes.

"I had a lot of confidence I was ready to go if I was given the chance."

Ashton Turner

After Shikhar Dhawan (143 from 115) and Rohit Sharma (95 from 92) set the standard with a 193-run opening stand in 31 overs, India stuttered to 9/358 with Pat Cummins (5/70) snatching his first ODI five-wicket haul.

When Aaron Finch (0) and Shaun Marsh (6) were both castled, leaving Australia 2/12, the foundations were laid with a 192-run third-wicket stand between Usman Khawaja (91 runs from 99 balls) and Peter Handscomb, the latter notching his maiden ODI ton.

However, when Glenn Maxwell (23 from 13) was lbw attempting a reverse sweep off Kuldeep Yadav, bringing Turner to the crease, Australia still needed 130 runs with 83 balls remaining.

When Handscomb holed out for a 105-ball 117 off the first ball of Yuzvendra Chahal's ninth - and India's 42nd - over, Australia still needed 88 off 53. At the time, Turner was 26 off 18 balls.

Turner clubbed the final ball of that over over long on for six, and then all hell broke loose in an onslaught that left India stunned.


Australia scored 98 runs in the last 10 overs, and got 64 runs off four overs between the 44th and 47th overs. Of those 98 runs, Turner was responsible for 68 of them, off just 29 balls.

He also ended on a strike rate of 195.34. According to ESPNcricinfo, this is the highest by a non-opening batsman facing a minimum of 40 balls during a successful chase since Damien Martyn smacked an unbeaten 92 off 51 versus Bangladesh in 2003.

Turner had his moments - a missed stumping by Rishabh Pant, as well as two drops in the outfield, were punctuated by DRS drama that left Indian captain Virat Kohli seething.

However, his whirlwind effort turned a nervous finish into a surprisngly simple formality, and even run-machine Kohli had to acknowledge the knock.

"Ashton played a hell of a knock, Handscomb played a really good innings to hold the innings together, Khawaja was good again," Kohli said.

"But Ashton's innings was the game-changer."

James Pavey

James Pavey Photo