India VS Australia ODI Series: host team chase competitive 265-run target
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- Web Desk
- 3 Hours ago
ISLAMABAD: The host team chased down a competitive 264-run target that the Men in Blue had posted earlier in the India versus Australia ODI series, with Cooper Connolly emerging as the unbeaten top-scorer for his side.
Australia Batting Line
Australia sent skipper Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head to open their chase in the second ODI of the India versus Australia series. The pair scored 11 and 28 off 24 and 40 balls respectively, setting a strong start in the first 10 overs before being dismissed by Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana respectively.
Following them, Matt Short and Matt Renshaw continued the momentum, adding 74 (including 4 fours and 2 sixes) and 30 runs respectively. However, both were later dismissed by Harshit Rana and Axar Patel.
With four top batters gone, Australia’s Cooper Connolly remained calm and confident, taking charge of the innings. He went on to score an unbeaten 61 off 53 balls, narrowing the chase to within 62 runs. Alex Carey came in intending to build a strong partnership with Connolly, but Washington Sundar removed him after he managed just 9 runs.
Thanks to Mitchell Owen, who provided crucial support to the unbeaten Connolly, scoring 36 off 23 balls (with 2 fours and 3 sixes) before also falling to Washington Sundar.
By then, Australia needed just 16 runs, which the lower order—Xavier Bartlett and Mitchell Starc—comfortably covered with 7 runs combined, while the remaining 9 came from extras conceded by India’s bowlers.
Meanwhile, Australia’s bowler Adam Zampa earned Player of the Match award for his brilliance with the ball.
India Batting Line
India opened their innings with top batter Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill. Despite a solid 73-run opening stand and valuable contributions from Shreyas Iyer (61 off 77 balls) and Axar Patel (44 off 41 deliveries), India’s batting lineup couldn’t manage a lasting partnerships.
Rohit and Shreyas provided a strong foundation, but the rest of the batters struggled to convert their starts — none managing a fifty — as India were eventually restricted to a total of 264 runs.
