What was touted as a major battle between Australia and India in the three-game one-day international series ended up being a rather wet squib with the Indian bowlers failing miserably to impose some sort of control on the Australian batsmen, led by Steve . Smith and Aaron Finch, leaving visiting hitters with mountains to climb in both games, which they couldn’t do. So down 0-2 in the series, India can only hope for a redemptive victory in Wednesday’s match at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Australia, on the other hand, can present its reserve players as an investment for the future. In any case, they will miss the services of David Warner, who had suffered an injury while filming in the last ODI.
While the Indians are not battling any major physical problems, the mental scars must be immense. Bowlers were completely out of both games once captain Virat Kohli missed pitches, and thereafter hitters were left with insurmountable odds as well.
While India crossed the 300-run mark in both games, the fact that they lost by 66 and 51 runs respectively says a lot about the difference.
In fact, the margins could have been higher: Australia looked good by 400 at least in the second game, while they took their foot off the gas in both games while fielding, allowing for some easy runs for the Indian lower order.
Sydney provided fairly flat tracks, but they didn’t really change much for either hitting. But Australian bowlers were far ahead of their Indian counterparts, whether in the fast bowling department or spinning.
Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal looked like pedestrians, while even Jasprit Bumrah, one of the best in the business, looked normal. One bowler who stood his ground in most cases against all odds was Mohammed Shami, at least in the first match, before he too was hit by the park.
Such was the state of bowling in the second game, that Hardik Pandya and Mayank Agarwal, who were not in shape yet, had to be thrown in the second ODI and ended up looking respectable!
As for hitting, it was always difficult to beat such great scores. Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli and KL Rahul showed some fighting on patches, but none of them were present with that huge three-figure score that would make the chase even closer.
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As for Aussie hitting, they really have little to worry about. The lowest score in the second highest-order ODI was 60, while Smith continued on his merry way, posting his second hundred successive in what was arguably one of the most fluid batting displays in recent memory.
Australia really has little to worry about, save for Warner’s injury and the indifferent spectacle of rhythm leader Mitchell Starc. But the other bowlers, especially Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa, have kept it all together.
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