Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): Mitchell Starc’s fiery spell didn’t allow India to even surpass the average first innings ODI score of 241. The way Australian openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head chased the target of 118 with 39 overs to spare showcased the flaws in Indian batting.
In the post-match conference, the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma emphasized on India’s lack of batting quality in the second ODI match. “If you lose a game, it is just disappointing, we didn’t apply ourselves with the bat. Didn’t put enough runs on the board. It wasn’t a 117 wicket. Kept losing wickets and that didn’t allow us to get the runs we wanted. Once we lost Shubman in the first over, myself and Virat got 30-35 runs quickly.”
“But then I lost my wicket and we lost, we lost a couple of wickets back to back. That put us on the back foot. It’s always tough to come back from that situation. Today wasn’t the day for us. Starc is a quality bowler. He has been doing it for Australia with the new ball. He kept bowling to his strength. Swung the new ball and took the odd ball away. Kept the batters guessing,” Rohit said.
From the very first over the Australian openers made their intentions clear about chasing down the target. Mitchell Marsh once again showcased his ability to strike the ball with perfection. It took him ten balls to settle on the pitch and after that, he went on a rampage. He finished his innings with an unbeaten score of 66(36)* which included 6 fours and 6 sixes.
Even the Indian skipper heaped praise on Marsh’s power-hitting. In the post-match conference, he said, “Marsh has to be one of the top players going around when it comes to power hitting. He backs himself to do that every now and then. Definitely in top 3 and 4 when it comes to power hitting, Rohit continued.”
The ODI series is now on level terms (1-1). The final and the series decider will be played on 22nd March at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
