Shikhar Dhawan misses out on a well-deserved century, fans sympathize with the opener

Shikhar Dhawan once again made his bat do the talking as he scored a second consecutive half-century against Australia at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Friday but unfortunately he missed out on a well-deserved century.

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Dhawan misses out on a well-deserved ton 

Dhawan started off well after the Men In Blue were once again asked to bat by Australian skipper Aaron Finch. Both Dhawan and Rohit Sharma added 81 runs for the opening wicket before Sharma was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Adam Zampa for 42. The southpaw then continued to keep the scoreboard ticking along with skipper Virat Kohli as the duo added more than 50 runs for the second-wicket stand as the opener registered his 29th half-century in the 50-overs format. 

He continued to take the bowlers to the cleaners and raced away into the 90s in no time. The left-hander played a spectacular cover drive off Kane Richardson to bring up the 100-run stand with Kohli for the second wicket. However, Richardson had the last laugh on the following delivery when he accounted for the opening batsman.

Dhawan pulled a short delivery to the leg side but it went straight into the hands of Mitchell Starc. Even Richardson was stunned after having picked up a big wicket off an ordinary delivery but it brought curtains down on Gabbar's innings. He was dismissed for a 90-ball 96 at a strike rate of 106.67 which included 13 boundaries and a maximum. 

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Netizens gutted after Dhawan departs for 96

Even the fans were gutted after Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for 96 as they reckoned that he had missed out on a well-deserved ton. Here are some of the reactions.

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(Image Courtesy: BCCI Twitter)