At Visakhapatnam, India lost badly against Australia in the second one-day international. The match was finished after 37 overs. Even though rain was forecast to delay the match, Australia’s Mitchell Starc has made sure to wrap everything up early. Starc picked up precisely where he left off from the last match in Mumbai, which India won by five wickets, and immediately put the home team in a precarious position.
Australia won the toss and sent India in to bat, and in the first over Starc had Gill out for 0 when he had Shubman Gill caught at point by Marnus Labuschagne. The Indians were reduced to 32-3 after 4.5 overs thanks to Starc’s third over, in which he took the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.
Starc then dismissed KL Rahul, India’s hero from their last match, for 9 (12), before Steve Smith added salt to the wounds he had just opened. With just 49 runs on the board, half of India’s team was dismissed thanks to a one-handed gem from the Australian stand-in captain who was fielding in the slips.
India registered a precarious record in the second ODI against Australia in Vizag
Nathan Ellis made fast inroads as well, contributing to the loss of wickets. One of his victims was Virat Kohli, who had hit 31 runs off of 35 balls, but he was dismissed. After reducing India to 117 for 9 in 26 overs, Starc finished off the innings by dismissing Mohammed Siraj.
The Australian reaction was a slap in the face to the run chase, as the tourists won the game in 11 overs thanks to the spectacular batting of Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh. Head scored 51 runs off 30 balls, while Marsh hit 66 runs off 36 balls as Australia won by 10 wickets.
India’s 50-over record was also tarnished by this setback. In batting first, the Men in Blue suffered their worst loss. Australia successfully chased down their target with 234 balls to spare. The previous best was set in 2019 by New Zealand, who beat India in Hamilton with 212 balls to spare.
Nevertheless, the series is knotted at 1-1 after two games, with the deciding encounter scheduled for Wednesday in Chennai.
