Australia is chasing a 265-run target for victory in the second ODI against India following an impressive bowling effort from the hosts at Adelaide Oval.
The tourists posted 9-264 courtesy of fifties of veteran opener Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, with leg-spinner Adam Zampa taking four wickets after seamers Josh Hazlewood (0-29 from ten overs) and Xavier Bartlett (3-39 from ten overs) tormented the top order.
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Hazlewood shines despite no wickets | 01:33
India lost two early wickets after Australian captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and chose to bowl first, with Bartlett removing rival skipper Shubman Gill and superstar Virat Kohli during the Powerplay. Gill drove firmly down the ground towards mid-off before Bartlett trapped Kohli on the pads with a nip-backer for a fourth-ball duck, both departing in the same over.
Having also been dismissed without scoring on Sunday, it marked the first time Kohli had suffered consecutive ducks in his illustrious ODI career.
After a sluggish start, which included a marginal run-out chance and 20 consecutive dot balls against Hazlewood, Sharma settled into a 118-run partnership with Iyer to rebuild the innings. The powerful opener thumped twin sixes against all-rounder Mitchell Owen over square leg before bringing up his 59th ODI half-century in 74 deliveries, with Iyer passing the minor milestone in 67 balls.
MATCH CENTRE: Australia vs India second ODI live scorecard
Starc finally breaks Indian partnership | 00:38
Left-armed quick Mitchell Starc broke the stand when Sharma scooped a pull shot towards deep fine leg, with the dismissal prompting a brief collapse of 3-39. Zampa deceived Iyer with a slower delivery, chopped on for 61, before the tweaker bowled KL Rahul with a flatter, faster delivery that crashed into off stump.
All-rounder Axar Patel clobbered a 41-ball 44 before becoming Zampa’s third victim courtesy of a juggling effort from Starc on the boundary rope, while fellow spinner Washington Sundar flicked a harmless half-volley from Bartlett towards deep square leg.
‘You can only sit back and admire that’ | 01:27
Following the dismissal of Nitish Kumar Reddy, stumped by gloveman Alex Carey after charging at Zampa, tailenders Harshit Rana (24 not out) and Arshdeep Singh (13 from 14 balls) added some valuable runs during the death overs, ensuring the Indians posted a defendable total.
Elsewhere, Australian batter Matthew Short damaged his finger while attempting a catch in the slips cordon, spending the second half of India’s innings in the sheds.
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