With the betterment of its batting effort, Australia outperformed India in the second ODI by 51 runs to seal the series at SCG. Australia posted record 389, riding on Smith’s ton and four half-centuries from the top order. In the chase, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul tried to carry Team India’s hopes, but the Aussies made their efforts dull.
Toss: Australia opted to bat first
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Detailed Report
First innings: For the fifth successive ODI, India failed to pick any wicket in the first powerplay. Finch and Warner continued their strong form against India as the duo added 156 runs for the opening wicket before Shami scalped Finch on 60. Shreyas Iyer threw a direct hit to runout Warner after a brilliant 83. With two wickets, India released some pressure, and Kohli introduced Pandya in middle-overs. Smith played with a similar attitude and scored yet another half-century. Before going out in Pandya’s ball, the right-hand batsman scored another 62-balls hundred to boost his average against India.
Labuschagne also scored a half-century, and he got Maxwell's support, which provided the fire in flag-overs with 29-balls 63. India’s bowling was mediocre on this surface, and Australia just bettered their batting effort to post 389 runs while batting first. It was the second time when Australia’s top five top-order batsmen scored fifty-plus scores. Last they did in 2013 when India scripted 360 runs chase, riding on Kohli’s 52-balls ton. 389 is also the third-highest ODI total by a team against India.
Second innings: Team India off to another positive start but lost their openers in successive overs. It was a similar story to the previous game. After losing two wickets on 60, Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli constructed the chase and added 93 runs. Kohli also completed his 59th half-century. India needed acceleration, and Smith took a stunner to remove Iyer on 38.
At the halfway of the chase, India were 160/3, and they required an attack in the next few overs. Rahul and Kohli added 72 runs for the 4th wicket, but in35th over, Henriques picked an outstanding catch to dismiss Kohli on 89. This wicket made a big change to the game, and Pandya joined KL Rahul. In pressure-overs, Australia bowled fine spells in death, and India couldn’t finish it due to the heavy required run-rate. It was Australia's second series win this year after losing to India and South Africa Down Under.
Star-performer of the match
Steve Smith is our star performer of the match. He scored consecutive centuries and took his average to 65 against India. Smith joined after Finch’s wicket and continued his last game’s show. Smith scored his hundred on just 62 balls to equalise the last game’s performance. In the field, he also picked a spectacular catch to dismiss Iyer.
5 players who made an impact in this game:
Steve Smith 104 (64)
David Warner 83 (77)
Glenn Maxwell 63 (29)
Virat Kohli 89 (87)
KL Rahul 76 (66)
