Australia dominated both of the ODIs and fully deserved both their wins.
1st ODI:
Winning the toss Australian skipper Aaron Finch decided to bat first on a flat SCG surface. The Aussies got of to a great start and mounted 156 before David Warner was dismissed by Mohammed Shami. Steve Smith was the next man to walk in and from the moment he stepped onto the pitch he was looking dangerous.
Aaron Finch played a captain’s knock and was finally dismissed by a well directed bouncer from Jasprit Bumrah. India’s bowling had been really bad with almost everyone bowling length deliveries which were easy to hit. India got their 3rd wicket in quick succession when Marcus Stoinis departed for a golden duck. In came Glenn Maxwell who was under huge pressure to prove himself after a very bad IPL.
He was even mocked by Virender Sehwag who called him a ” 10 crore Cheerleader”. Maxwell silenced his critics with a brilliant 45 of just 19 deliveries. Along with Maxwell, Steve Smith who also came into the game after an average IPL smashed an incredible century full of classy shots.
He was finally dismissed by Shami in the last over but it was too little too late. India’s bowling performance was really bad with Yuzvendra Chahal who the pundits had labelled – “one of the best bowlers of the IPL” was completely smashed as he ended up conceding 89 runs of his 10 overs. Two of India’s most highly rated pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Navdeep Saini were also really expensive and it goes to show that there is lot of work to be done in the bowling department. India started the chase quite well with Mitchell Starc conceding 27 of his first 2 overs.
The 1st blow came in the 5th over when Mayank Agarwal made some poor shot selection and was easily caught. Virat Kohli was dropped by Adam Zampa but it didn’t prove to be too costly as he departed after scoring just 21. Shreyas Iyer didn’t trouble the scorers with only 2 runs after he was caught while trying to duck a bouncer. K.L.Rahul was also dismissed quickly when he hit a low full toss straight at Steve Smith. Hardik Pandya came in under a lot of pressure and he delivered. He played a brilliant knock along with Shikhar Dhawan to steady the Indian innings.
Australia got the all important breakthrough when Shikhar Dhawan chipped his shot straight to mid off for a simple catch. The required rate was climbing high and Hardik Pandya had no option but to look for big hits. But he couldn’t time his shot too well and was caught at long off by Mitchell Starc. Ravindra Jadeja was also dismissed in similar fashion and India lost the match by 66 runs.
2nd ODI:
Australia came into the match making 1 change while India made no changes to their starting XI. After losing miserably it was very confusing as to why India made no changes especially in the bowling department. Australia won the toss again and elected to bat again. They got off to a similar start this time with David Warner as the aggressor.
India’s bowling had no improvements and it seemed they did not learn from their previous mistakes. The breakthrough finally came in the 22nd over when Aaron Finch just chipped the ball to India’s skipper. David Warner was dismissed by some brilliant work from Shreyas Iyer as his direct hit made Warner walk back to the pavilion.
Marnus Labuschagne came in to bat at number 4 and he played a great supportive role while Steve Smith once again took charge of proceedings. It was a very similar innings to his previous one, full of brilliant shots. Post match Steve Smith said that in the IPL he was trying to hard but now he is focusing more on finesse. Smith was finally dismissed by Hardik Pandya but India’s happines was short lived. Glenn Maxwell came in and bashed the bowlers again with an unbeaten 63 of just 22 balls.
Australia this time posted an even bigger total of 389 and India seemed up to the task as again they got of to a great start but both the openers were dismissed quickly. Virat Kohli played a great knock and deserved a ton but was caught outstandingly by Moises Henriques.
Shreyas Iyer was similarly dismissed with this time Steve Smith taking a blinder. K.L.Rahul put up some resistance with a great 76 but the increasing required run rate caught up to him and he was dismissed trying to sweep the ball out of the park. Hardik Pandya became the villain this time as he played too many dot balls and had no real contribution with the bat.
Pat Cummins was extremely impressive with the ball and took three crucial wickets which helped Australia to victory. India have some catching up to do as they will look to grab a consolation win on wednesday.