Australia thrash India by 10 wickets to level ODI series
Visakhapatnam: An unbeaten 121-run opening partnership between Mitchell Marsh (66 not out) and Travis Head (51 not out) helped Australia thrash India by 10 wickets in the second ODI here on Sunday to level the three-match series 1-1.
Chasing a meagre target of 118 after Mitchell Starc’s 5/53 had destroyed India’s batting, the tourists completed the task in just 11 overs.
Starc made full use of helpful conditions to bundle out India for 117 in 26 overs. His ninth five-wicket haul in ODIs along with fine display from Sean Abbott (3/23) and Nathan Ellis (2/13) gave Indian batters no chance to settle down on seaming and swinging conditions.
The decisive damage was done by Starc while Sean Abbott (3/23) and Nathan Ellis (2/13) then bowled hard lengths to run through the lower-middle order in what turned out to be a disastrous day for the hosts.
Virat Kohli did hold one end up for a while with a 35-ball 31 and Axar Patel scored an entertaining unbeaten 29 studded with two sixes off Starc.
Their innings were the only bright spots for India with their batting exposed once again by swing and pace. Australia pace spearhead Starc claimed four wickets in his opening spell of 6-1-31-4, removing Shubman Gill (0), Rohit Sharma (13), Suryakumar Yadav (0) and
KL Rahul (9) to leave India in tatters, and their extended batting line-up consisting of Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Patel could not trouble the scorers much.
On what appeared to be a flight deck here, for the second time in the series India were off to a poor start with Starc causing the maximum damage inside the first five overs, finding swing but no seam movement with overcast conditions and strong wind blowing across throughout the first innings.
After getting Shubman Gill (0) caught at point in the first over, he ended Kohli and Sharma’s rebuilding act in the fifth over.
Sharma flashed hard but was caught at first slip by Smith, who grabbed the moving ball in more than one attempt, and Starc struck again on the next delivery trapping Yadav leg-before for a second consecutive first-ball duck in this series.
The left-arm pacer continued making inroads into the Indian batting line-up, striking once again in the ninth over to trap KL Rahul (9) leg-before.
The batsman, after consultation with Kohli went upstairs, but DRS confirmed the field umpire’s call and India were left reeling at 48/4 inside nine overs.
There was no respite for India with Australia right-arm pacer Abbott producing an outside edge off the first ball in the 10th over, and Smith took a stunning one-handed diving catch on his right to make Hardik Pandya’s (1) trip to the middle a very short one.
Kohli and Jadeja did stop the flow of wickets for India with their 22-run sixth-wicket stand, but the introduction of Nathan Ellis brought another wicket.
The right-arm fast bowler, playing only his fourth ODI, got the key wicket of Kohli, pinning him in front of the wickets for a 35-ball 31 with four hits to the fence. Jadeja was caught behind off Ellis and the Indian tailender didn’t last long as Starc bowled an unplayable delivery to Mohammed Siraj to clip the off-bail.
A disappointed India captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday rued that his side’s formidable batting line-up “kept falling to the strength” of Australia pacer Mitchell Starc instead of playing their natural game in the second ODI, which the hosts lost by 10 wickets here.
Australia won the match to level the series 1-1 and will now head to Chennai for the deciding third ODI on March 22.
Starc (5/53), who completed his ninth five-wicket haul in 109 ODI innings, wreaked havoc as Australia bundled out the home side for 117 in 26 overs after India were invited to bat first.
Australia completed the run chase in just 11 overs without losing any wicket. Sharma said Indian batters didn’t apply themselves properly, and added that it was certainly not a low-scoring pitch.
“Starc is a quality bowler. He’s been doing it for years for Australia with the new ball.
He kept bowling to his strength and we kept falling to his strength. That’s something that we need to understand and play accordingly,” Sharma said at the post-match presentation.
Sharma minced no words about the batting failure, saying that 117 was not at all a challenging total.
“It is disappointing. No doubt about that. We didn’t play to our potential. We didn’t apply ourselves with the bat. We always knew that was not enough runs. It was not a 117 pitch at all. By no means. We just didn’t apply ourselves,” said Sharma.
