Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni turned the clock back with a batting masterclass as the old warhorses' twin tons powered India to a 15-run win over England in the second One-day International and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here today.
Coming into bat with India struggling at 25 for three, Yuvraj and Dhoni brought into play their years of experience to not only bail the team out of trouble, but also propel them to a formidable 381 for six in the stipulated 50 overs.
In reply, England fought to the end with captain Eoin Morgan leading the chase with a swashbuckling century, only for his side to fall short narrowly at the packed Barabati Stadium.
Needing 22 off the final over, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept his nerves and conceded a mere six runs, even as triumphant skipper Virat Kohli punched his fist in the air in jubilation.
Despite being set a mammoth target, England were in the game as long as Morgan was in the middle, but bowler Jasprit Bumrah put paid to the visiting side's hopes when he calmly ran out the England skipper in the non-striker's end after he backed up too far.
Invited to bat, Yuvraj (150 off 127 balls) and Dhoni (134 off 122) forged a record 256-run partnership to put their team in a position of strength from a precarious one.
Yuvraj was on fire from ball one and hammered 21 fours and three sixes in his career-best knock in ODIs. The southpaw, brought back into the national team, could not have silenced his detractors in a better way as got to his 14th ODI hundred, which was his first since the 2011 World Cup.
It was a typical innings from Dhoni, who took his time initially before cutting loose to tear the opposition bowlers apart.
Dhoni too crossed the three-figure mark after a while with his last hundred coming way back in 2013 when he struck an unbeaten 139 against Australia at Mohali.
He ended up hammering 10 fours and half a dozen sixes, scoring his 10th ODI hundred in the process and first since handing over captaincy to Kohli.
It was raining sixes and fours especially in the last 10 overs with India plundering 120 runs.
Beleaguered England were required to bat out of their skins to overcome the imposing target, which they could not.
(REOPENS DEL 44)
Number 8 Wriddhiman oozed maturity as he complemented Pujara's solidity with his calm demeanour. Pujara-Wriddhiman had two wicketless sessions.
Pujara finally ran out of steam for a simple catch to Glenn Maxwell at short midwicket.
Contrary to prediction, the fourth day pitch of MS Dhoni's home venue held up as spinners extracted turn from the roughs while pacers had to rely on reverse swing.
The benign nature of the surface would seem to be a draw on the cards but Jadeja who grabbed a first innings fifer would be tempted to exploit the roughs after his twin bursts in a big Test for the visitors to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the final day tomorrow.
Resuming on 390 for 6 under overcast conditions, Pujara and Saha refused to get out and left Aussies all the more frustrated with their profligate use of DRS.
Wriddhiman got to his third Test century with an easy glance to square leg in the first ball after tea, while three overs it was Pujara's turn to get to his third double ton as the duo went on and on.
If their dogged partnership was not enough, India piled on the Aussies misery by successfully using referrals twice -- when Wriddhiman was on 19 and Pujara on 157.
Australia were left frustrated more when their review for a catch off a sweep shot of Saha in the last over before lunch was overturned.
On 59, Wriddhiman went for a sweep and was beaten by the extra bounce and the bat did not have an edge hitting only the ground as umpire Ian Gould ruled out the appeal.
Steve Smith and Co however went for a referral and lost a review as the Aussies struggled to break the partnership.
Wriddhiman, on 19, survived Pat Cummins' first ball with India successfully using the review to deny the comeback pacer his fifth wicket.
He was given leg before by umpire Chris Gaffaney but referral showed the ball was missing leg by a few centimetres.
The next ball, Wriddhiman responded with a boundary, a classical cover drive as the duo brought up 50 partnership under floodlights with conditions overcast and hazy.
Approaching his 50, Wriddhiman broke the shackles and stepped out to hit Lyon over midwicket.
Wriddhiman was dropped on 51, trying to cut, beaten by the extra bounce of O'Keefe, and replays showed, he had a faint edge only to be dropped by wicketkeeper Wade.
Pujara, who also has two double tons, posted his second 150 in Tests in 391 balls guiding Lyon for a single as the whole team gave him a standing applause.
