Hosts Australia are off to a terrific start, as they once again outplayed the Indian bowlers, scoring a monstrous 3894 in the second One-Day International (ODI), at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), on Sunday. In what is a do-or-die match for the Indians, it was yet again Steve Smith, whose knock of 104 made a difference.
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Winning the toss, Australian skipper Aaron Finch once again elected to bat first. While the Aussies made a change, in the form of Moises Henriques, who came in for an injured Marcus Stoinis, India moved in with an unchanged XI from the opening ODI.
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As expected, the openers, David Warner and Finch, were off to a flier. The pair contributed to a 142-run stand, while it was not before the 23rd over when the hosts lost their first wicket. It was Finch, who departed for 60.
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Meanwhile, Warner continued his onslaught, scoring a 77-ball 80, while he scored his half-century off 39 deliveries. It was in the 26th over when he was dismissed off a run out by Shreyas Iyer.
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Nonetheless, the show was far from over, as it was the pair of Smith and Marnus Labuschagne that took control. Until the 42nd over, the duo contributed 136 runs.
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It was another quickfire knock from Smith, who scored his half-century off 38 deliveries, before converting it to a ton, off just 62 balls. Nonetheless, he was dismissed for 104 by Hardik Pandya, who was a surprise bowler in the match, having refrained himself from bowling for the past few months, owing to his just-recovered back injury.
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Still, following Smith's dismissal, it was Labuschagne and Maxwell, who took charge, as they contributed 80 runs for the fourth wicket. Labuschagne scored a 61-ball 70, before falling to Jasprit Bumrah in the 49th over.
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Maxwell scored his 21st ODI half-century in the final over, which came off just 25 deliveries. He stayed onto the crease and hit a couple of big ones in the last over, off Navdeep Saini, to steer the side to an astonishing total of 3894.
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Among Indian bowlers, it was a long and expensive list, as the side utilised seven bowlers, but to no avail. Nevertheless, Pandya was the most economical one, claiming 1 for 24 off his four overs.Brief scores: Australia 3894 (Warner- 83, Smith- 104; Pandya- 124) vs India. India need 390 runs to win in 50 overs.
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