IND v AUS Prediction: Who will win the India v Australia 2nd ODI?

The series is on the line as India and Australia head into the second ODI. While the hosts are flying high, Virat Kohli and Co. are currently languishing at the other end of the spectrum after having been handed an embarrassing 66-run defeat in the first ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday (November 27).

In the second game of the 3-match ODI series at the same venue on Sunday (November 29), the Aaron Finch-led side would look to win their second successive ODI series. India, on the other hand, will be fighting to stay alive in the contest and in turn prevent a 7th successive international loss (all formats included).

And India need to plug a lot of holes in all three departments to do that. Their bowling looked terribly out of shape in the first match. Not only did the bowlers leak runs throughout the innings without ever threatening to take a wicket, but it also seemed like they weren't sticking to the basics.

Steve Smith was on 99 when Jasprit Bumrah ran in to bowl. Everyone – especially Mumbai Indians fans – would have expected the speedster to send down a toe-crusher. Instead, Bumrah bowled an off-cutter on almost seventh stump which Smith comfortably pushed to deep point and brought up his 10th ODI century.

Even Navdeep Saini seemed like he was trying too hard, resulting in frequent errors in line and length. Smith was on a run-a-ball 30 at one point before eventually finishing on 105 off 66 balls. In essence, Australia brilliantly capitalised on the middle overs and feasted on all the Indian bowlers.

Except for Mohammed Shami (3 for 59), all the others conceded in excess of 6 runs an over with Yuzvendra Chahal (1 for 89) registering the most expensive figures by an Indian spinner in ODIs. So if Hardik Pandya is not fit to bowl, India need to either tweak their line-up and include a sixth bowling option or bank on the existing five to put in a better combined effort.

While there are fewer issues to address on the batting front, batting coach Vikram Rathour wouldn’t be too pleased with his wards. There were talks about the Indian bowlers peppering Steve Smith with short balls, but what actually happened was that three of the four top-order visiting batsmen perished to bouncers.

Yes, the scoreboard pressure of 375 runs is bound to get to the batsmen. But that is no excuse for not showing temperament and trying to play too many shots against arguably the best bowling attack in the world. A solid opening stand and someone to hold the innings together are all that are needed for India to turn things around.

The fielding was substandard as well, with catches going down and fielders committing schoolboy errors. But this can’t be counted as that big a difference between the two sides, for the Australians weren’t impressive with their fielding either.

About Australia, they did put up a near-perfect performance. Everyone – barring Marcus Stoinis (0 off 1) and Mitchell Starc (1 for 65) – put their hand up and significantly contributed to the victory. In what was good news for the hosts, Glenn Maxwell continued from his match-winning 108 against England in September despite returning modest numbers in IPL 2020.

To be fair, Stoinis made up for his failure with the bat by bowling 6.2 tidy overs in the middle period before hobbling off with an injury. Starc too was excellent on the field, as he took three catches including those of the well-set Shikhar Dhawan (74 off 86) and Hardik Pandya (90 off 76).

Stoinis’ injury isn’t a concern since Australia have like-for-like replacements for the 31-year-old all-rounder in Moises Henriques and 21-year-old Cameron Green, if need be.

Expect for a brief period of the 128-run Dhawan-Pandya stand, Australia dominated the opening match and they clearly have the odds on their side now.

---

IND v AUS 2020: India v Australia match prediction

Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa shared 7 wickets between them in the first game

Apart from the gulf in terms of overall performance, a blatant contrast between the two sides was the number of bowlers. Though Australia used only six bowlers in the first ODI, Marnus Labuschagne is the seventh bowling option they have.

On the flip side, Pandya is yet to recover completely and that means India just have five prospects. Just like it happened on Friday, if one of the bowlers is taken to the cleaners, Virat Kohli wouldn’t have any option but to persist with him.

Yes, the Indian top order needs to fire to take a bit of pressure off the lower-middle order and help the team post a healthy total on the board. But if one of the pistons of a relatively weaker engine doesn’t function properly, Australia would be well on course to sealing the series tomorrow.

It is what it is, and the lack of both bowling options and momentum for India does make Australia the favourites to win the second match of what looks like a long summer.

Prediction: Australia to win.

---