Australia leveled the three-ODI series against India in style as they registered a 10-wicket win over the hosts in the second match of the series which was played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on March 19, 2023.
Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bowl first. The decision was proven right when India was bowled out for 117 runs in just 26 overs with Virat Kohli (31) and Akshar Patel (29*) being the major contributors.
For the visitors, Mitchell Starc picked 5/53, Sean Abbott picked three wickets and Nathan Ellis took two wickets.
In reply, Mitchell Marsh hammered the Indian bowling to all parts of the ground scoring 66* in 36 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes and his opening partner Travis Head made 51* with 10 fours and Australia achieved the target in just 11 overs.
Speaking after the match, Rohit Sharma said that Indian batters just didn’t do justice to the pitch and didn’t put enough runs on the board.
IND v AUS 2023: WATCH- Sunil Gavaskar dissects Virat Kohli's LBW dismissal playing across the line
He said: “If you lose a game, it is just disappointing, We didn't apply ourselves with the bat. Didn't put enough runs on the board. It wasn't a 117 wicket. Kept losing wickets and that didn't allow us to get the runs we wanted. Once we lost Shubman in the first over, and Virat got 30-35 runs quickly. But then I lost my wicket and we lost we lost a couple of wickets back to back. That put us on the back foot. It's always tough to come back from that situation.
Today wasn't the day for us. Starc is a quality bowler. He has been doing it for Australia with the new ball. He kept bowling to his strength. Swung the new ball and took the odd ball away. Kept the batters guessing. Marsh has to be one of the top players going around when it comes to power hitting. He backs himself to do that every now and then. Definitely in top 3 and 4 when it comes to power hitting.”
The third and final ODI will be played on March 22 in Chennai.
(Star Sports inputs)
