Australian captain for the 2nd ODI vs India Steven Smith says right after the rain the pitch got sticky and started to spin following their 99-run defeat.
Steve Smith on Losing 2nd ODI vs India
A total of 3 ODI games were scheduled to be played ahead of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 while the series will resume after the ICC event.
Right after India won the 1st ODI game of the series by 5 wickets, both teams are scheduled to play the second game of the series on September 24 at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. With hours ahead of the match, BCCI made an update regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s unavailability for the game.
Mukesh Kumar has been named as the replacement player for Jasprit Bumrah for the 2nd ODI vs Australia.
Winning the toss, Australia decided to bowl first where KL Rahul and Ruturaj Gaikwad opened the inning. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 71 runs in the 1st ODI against Australia on Friday and was expected to score big enough to have a boost ahead of the Asian Games 2023. Gaikwad loses his wicket to Hazlewood in the 4th over after scoring 8 runs.
Following his dismissal, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill each scored a century and pushed India’s score beyond 200 runs. With KL Rahul’s 52 and Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 72 runs, India scored 399 runs at the end of 50 overs.
On the other hand, Australia made a struggling start by losing a couple of wickets within 10 runs. Following captain’s dismissal, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne made an 80-run stand. The partnership was then broken by Ashwin by dismissing Labuschagne for 27 runs.
Soon Indian spinners started to dominate the game where Ashwin and Jadeja bagged 3 wickets each and paved the way for India to seal the victory. Australia managed to score 217 runs after losing 10 wickets in 28.2 overs while the 2nd inning was reduced to 33 overs with a revised DLS target of 317 runs due to rain.
Following the defeat, the Australian captain for the 2nd ODI vs India – Steven Smith said “When we came here it looked like a good wicket. Credit to them, Gill and Iyer batted beautifully and took the game away from us. The way KL and Surya batted, it was brilliant. After the rain, it got sticky and it started to spin. We have lost quite a few (matches) in a row, in South Africa and here”.
“We need to sort out a few things, hopefully, we turn it around in the next game. We have a few days now, we are working towards the World Cup, and both the teams are. Hopefully, we’ll turn it around in the last game”, Smith added.
The last and final game of the Australia tour of India 2023 ODI series will be played on September 27 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.
