Visakhapatnam: India, it seems, simply did not turn up in the second of the three-match ODI series against Australia in Visakhapatnam. After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, the star-studded Indian batting lineup collapsed like a pack of cards against some quality Australian pace attack led by Mitchell Starc who finished with a five-wicket haul (5/53).
In response, Mitchell Marsh's (66* off 36) quickfire innings along with Travid Head's (51* off 30) sensible second fiddle, both of whom scored half-centuries, helped the Kangaroos chase down their target with 234 balls to spare and bring up a 10-wicket win at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday. The win has helped Australia level the series 1-1.
On what looked liked a superb batting track by the way Australia went about the chase, India's batters were made to dance to the tunes of Aussie bowlers thanks to some incredible performance. Starc sent back each of the first four Indian batters to go back to the pavilion, getting rid of Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul.
He was brilliantly supported by Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis with the latter two talking the reaminder of the five Indian wickets to fall. Starc returned to get the last man Mohammed Siraj out to complete his fifer as the hosts just played 26 of the 50 overs. Australia then made easy work of the chase and reached their target in just 11 overs.
The 100-over contest, both innings combined, finished in just 37 overs such was the dominance of Australia in this contest. This was Australia's third biggest win in terms of balls left as the team had 39 overs left when they finished the match.