Starc, the left-arm pacer who won the man-of-the-match award, took 5 wickets with the ball. He was, however, a bit scratchy. 53 runs despite getting a maiden in 8 overs.
Photo: AFP
“>
Photo: AFP
Led by Mitchell Starc, the pacers stopped India with very few runs. The two openers Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh completed the task of chasing small targets with ease. Australia leveled the series with a remarkable victory.
Ajira defeated the hosts by 10 wickets in the second ODI of the three-match series in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Batting first after losing the toss, Rohit Sharma’s team was bowled out for just 117 runs in 26 overs. In response, Steven Smith scored 121 runs without a wicket in just 11 overs to ensure victory.
Latest news on The Daily Star Bangla Google News Channel. Starc, the left-arm pacer who won the man-of-the-match award, took 5 wickets with the ball. He was, however, a bit scratchy. 53 runs despite getting a maiden in 8 overs. Two right-arm pacers Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis took 3 and 2 wickets respectively.
Head and Marsh bat in T20 style. They ended the match with 39 overs left in the innings. The left-handed head played an unbeaten innings of 51 runs off 30 balls at a strike rate of 170. He hit 10 fours. The right-handed Marsh scored an unbeaten 66 off 36 balls with 6 fours and a six. His strike rate was 183.33.
Not that the wicket was too tough for batting. Instead, the loose shots of the batters pose a danger for India. Coupled with Starc’s fiery bowling, they somehow had to stop past the hundred.
Only four Indian batsmen could touch double digit scores. The maximum 31 runs from 35 balls came from the bat of Virat Kohli. He is trapped LBW by Ellis. This star batsman definitely did not walk on the way to get reviews. Axar Patel remains unbeaten on 29 off 29 balls.
Starc took all of India’s first 4 wickets. One by one he showed Shubman Gill, Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav and Lokesh Rahul on the way to the dressing room. He then completed 5 wickets by bowling Mohammad Siraj to end India’s innings. In between, Abbott and Ellis continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals.
This is India’s lowest total against Australia in ODIs on home soil and fourth lowest overall. And Ajira won against them for the first time in this edition with more than two hundred (234) balls in hand.
The series between the two cricket superpowers is tied at 1-1. The series-deciding third ODI will be held in Chennai next Wednesday.
