Mitchell Starc got the second ODI off to a great start, and Sean Abbott soon joined him. Abbott picked up his first wicket when he got rid of Hardik Pandya for just 1 run. But as much credit as Abbott deserves for fooling Pandya with the line, a huge amount of credit goes to stand-in captain Steve Smith, who pulled off a stunning catch in the slips to end Pandya’s short stay.
Hardik Pandya misjudged Abbott’s “outside the off stump” delivery. He was trying to play a defensive shot, but instead he edged it towards the second slip. Even though the ball was going in the opposite direction of Smith, the 33-year-old swooped down like Superman, stretched to his right, and grabbed the ball to get rid of Pandya.
The Indian top order was shaken up again by the Australian bowlers, led by Starc. This happened after Australia won the toss and asked India to bat first. Shubman Gill, who had been having a good year so far, didn’t score a run on Sunday and was the first Indian player to be out. Then, skipper Rohit Sharma and second batsman Virat Kohli put up a brief 29-run partnership for the second wicket, but that was it. After that, Starc went crazy on the Indian batters and took wickets without stopping, ending the power play for India.
Mitchell Starc makes India’s top order fall apart.
In the second ODI, India’s bad luck with the top order continued, and in the first ten overs, half of the team was sent back to the pavilion while India was still trying to get out of the whirlpool. India’s score after the first powerplay was a sad 51/5, with all of the known batters except for Virat Kohli going back to the dressing room after a short time in the middle.
Starting under a cloudy sky in Vizag, Australia’s best fast bowler Mitchell Starc breathed fire as he took out India’s first four batsmen. At that point, India had only 48 runs on the board. Suryakumar Yadav, a fiery batter who was the talk of the town, was caught lbw. This was the second time in a row that the 32-year-old got out on a duck.
Except for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharm, no other well-known batsman was able to score more than 10 runs. Virat Kohli’s 31 runs gave life to the Indian innings, while Rohit Sharma’s 13 runs came from two boundaries. This is the second time that India’s top order has failed in the current ODI series.
