India vs Australia 2020-21: Centurion Steve Smith steers hosts to monstrous 389/4 in 2nd ODI

Australia are up against India in the second One-Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It is a do-or-die match for India, having lost the opening ODI. Smith scored his 10th ODI century, while it was his second consecutive in the series, having scored 105 in the first ODI.

Hosts Australia are off to a terrific start, as they once again outplayed the Indian bowlers, scoring a monstrous 389/4 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 389/4.

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 389/4 (Warner- 83, Smith- 104; Pandya- 1/24) vs India. India need 390 runs to win in 50 overs.