Australia Crush India To Win The 3-Match Dettol ODI Series 2-0!

 

India have not learnt any lesson from the first match in terms of improving body language, intensity on the field and the basic will to win, despite the second one-day international being the decisive one in the 3-match Dettol ODI Series. The team management reposed full faith on them by fielding the same team, not even replacing anyone in the bowling line-up, prominently Chahal and Saini. To make matters worse Virat Kohli lost the toss again, offering the platter one more time to the hosts to make hay. And they did exactly that.

 

The Warner-Finch opener-duo who posted another 100-plus run partnership and later Steve Smith who notched up his second consecutive century continued to prove to be India’s nemesis. A target of 350+ runs was to be set for India yet again (the average first-innings score being 319 at the SCG for the last five years). The Indian bowlers did nothing better than in the first match: Saini continued to be the most expensive; Bumrah ineffectual as earlier; Shami unable to repeat his earlier length bowling; and the spinners putting up another abysmal show of club-cricket bowling. For a change, Pandya and Agarwal were also tried a bit, but with no results.

 

The formidable Aussies even bettered the target of 375 set in the first match by scoring 389/4 in the allotted 50 overs in the second ODI in Sydney today, with Maxwell coming up again with a quickfire unbeaten 63, and Labuschagne dampening the Indian cause further by scoring 70 odd runs. The Australian batsmen displayed a repeat show of grand batting with effortless ease, making the ball run to the boundary at the slightest touch as often as they preferred and to all sides of the park. Indian fielders were seen mostly running haplessly around, perhaps in a surrealistic frame of mind, not knowing what was happening around them.

 

The Indian reply was nothing much to write home about. Despite Kohli’s 89 , Rahul’s 76 and the Pandya-Jadeja summary fireworks. They finished for 338/9 in 50 overs. For Indian fans the frustration of the first ODI doubled up today having to watch a numbing flop show by their favorite stars, yet again, and the cause lost as Australia have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match Series, making the third match in Canberra on 2^ndDecember inconsequential. Australia’s tight length bowling almost throughout and super catching should be revelations for the seemingly squeezed-up Indians. Although the margin of victory is only 51 runs, Australia have effectively crushed India in all aspects of the game, and exacted sweet revenge for the home ODI Series loss in 2018-19. Steve Smith was the Man of the Match for the second time for his back to back tons. 

 

Perhaps the three-month long isolation has impacted the spirit of the Indian cricketers, and how they are going to regroup for the T20 and the Test Series is to be seen keenly. Additionally, perhaps the ‘family matters’ of superstars have had some adverse impact on the team too: Rohit Sharma being allowed to attend to his family matters after IPL-2020 (he was injured initially, sat out in a few matches and was not selected for the Indian squads for the Australia tour. But he started playing again till winning the IPL final, and mystery surrounded his case with even skipper Kohli wondering about his status.), and Virat Kohli himself granted leave after the first test to attend to his family matters. In any case, the challenge ahead is mounting for Team India, and we have no option but to hope for the best, and at least to hope for keenly contested matches.