That'll be all from this game then. A tough day for the Indian men but nothing of the kind for the Indian women's team, who are on a rampage in their crucial World Cup clash against New Zealand in Navi Mumbai. Do switch tabs and follow our coverage of that game right here on Sportskeeda and don't forget to return on Saturday for the final one-dayer of this series in Sydney. The first ball will be bowled at 9 AM IST and we will commence our coverage an hour prior. Do return for that and more. Until then, this is your host Sooryanarayanan Sesha signing off. Take care and buh-bye!
Matthew Short perished to a bouncer from Harshit Rana but not before he made a well-compiled 74. Here's a watch!👇
Shubman Gill signs some autographs. His first series defeat as India captain but there's not much to read into it given that he's still very early into his tenure. That said, India have a lot of questions to answer with their bowling combination as well as how they start with the bat. Gill has looked really good without posting a big score and it should be a matter of time. But India would surely want Virat Kohli to get a score in Sydney on Saturday.
Australia will be chuffed to bits and having wrapped up the series, there could be some rotation on the cards given the short turnaround. Josh Hazlewood may have taken the best none-fer that Marsh has ever seen but there's merit in resting him for Saturday's game ahead of the T20Is and more importantly, a big Ashes series next month. Josh Inglis could be fit again and return for the Sydney game too, further strengthening the Aussies.
Mitchell Marsh (Australia captain): It's been awesome. I said to the boys in Perth that it's pretty rare to play in front of a big crowd in ODI cricket. Awesome turnouts in both games and happy to wrap up the series. (On the bowling) I thought Josh Hazlewood took the best none-fer I've ever seen (laughs), he was unbelievable. I thought the whole bowling unit was great. I thought we were outstanding and some amazing batting from the young guys. Going to start calling him Chaos Owen I think (laughs). Awesome batting. Cooper's 21 - great signs for Australia. (Celebrations?) We'll certainly have a beer in the change rooms and enjoy the series win but it's a really quick turnaround so not a lot of celebration. India are a fantastic side, incredible players and great experience. I thought it was going to be a great experience for our young kids to play them.
Shubman Gill (India captain): I think we had just enough runs on the board. Never easy when you drop a couple of chances to defend a total like that. There was a bit in the wicket initially but once the ball got old it got better to bat on. (How big was the toss?) The first game it was more crucial with the rain coming on and off. In this game, I wouldn't say that much because both teams almost played 50 overs. The wicket did a little bit more in the first innings but it settled in after 15-20 overs. (On Rohit's knock) Never easy coming back and to play some competitive cricket after a long time. The initial phase was challenging but he fought hard. I would say he missed out on a really big one.
Adam Zampa is the Player of the Match for his spell of 4/60. Here's what he has to say: Obviously nice to beat India. Been a good hard battle against them in one-day cricket. We've always been tested and have tested them as well. They've been the best team in the world for a little while now so it was nice to test ourselves against them. Those guys have been bowling in the powerplay for a long time so to come off the back of that, I've always been grateful. The guys coming in, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, have been doing well so it makes my job easy in the middle. (Chats with the captain) Mitch is chilled, relaxed, never emotional at all to be honest. He lets us do our own thing. The older guys, we run our own show out there with the ball.
Time for the presentation...
10:09 PM local time (5:09 PM IST): Australia beat India by 2 wickets to win the series 2-0 with a game to spare!
Matthew Short 74 (78) | Adam Zampa 4/60 (10) Rohit Sharma 73 (97) | Washington Sundar 2/37 (7)
A professional run chase by the Australians. They did lose a few too many wickets to their liking towards the end but with the ice cool Cooper Connolly in complete control of the situation, the result was never in doubt. India did not have a par score despite half-centuries from Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer and it told with an inexperienced bowling lineup sans the rested Jasprit Bumrah and the inexplicably absent Kuldeep Yadav finding it tough.
There was some swing and seam movement on offer with the new ball and both Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj were on the money, keeping Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head in check. It took seven overs for the first boundary as Head swung Siraj over square leg. Marsh soon perished but Head and Matthew Short looked in control, rotating strike well before finding the odd boundary as the pitch started to settle and the swing died down. Harshit Rana removed Head but then came a solid stand between Short and Matt Renshaw, who was given a reprieve at mid-wicket as Nitish Kumar Reddy dropped a tough chance.
Short also rode his luck with a couple of dropped chances but rotated strike admirably well as he motored along to his third ODI half-century. Renshaw looked in complete control himself before perishing in an attempt to loft Axar Patel over the covers, while Alex Carey was cleaned up attempting a big shot himself. That put the game in the balance and the boundaries dried up a touch but Connolly combined forces with Short to ensure that the asking rate never got out of bounds.
Each of India's seamers suffered from cramp and that told on Rana running out of gas even as he got Short holing out off a bouncer. By that time though, Connolly was in smooth nick as he pocketed a string of boundaries, dealing both pace and spin well. The man who took the game away from India for good though was Mitchell Owen, who showed just why he carries a burgeoning reputation as a ball striker, smashing sixes and fours for fun to bring the required rate down even further. So much so that Australia needed to go at just 4 per over off the last nine overs.
Owen did perish in a bid to finish it off in style and while two more wickets fell, Connolly was there to see his team home having notched up his maiden ODI fifty. None of Australia's senior pros - Marsh, Head and Carey - made a telling impact and yet, the hosts have got the job done with relative ease. They'd be delighted with their efforts while India have been served a harsh reality check in Shubman Gill's first series as ODI captain. Presentation coming up shortly...
46.3 Arshdeep Singh to Cooper Connolly, WIDE! What an anticlimactic finish! Bouncer outside the off stump and Connolly does not flinch. The ball zooms over his head and the square umpire has his arms outstretched to signal a wide as well as the end of the game. A couple of scares towards the end but eventually, Australia romp home by 2 wickets and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match series!
Surely the field comes up now? Not quite...
46.2 Arshdeep Singh to Cooper Connolly, SCORES ARE LEVEL! Into the block hole on off stump. Connolly squeezes it out through the covers and into the deep as the sweeper picks up. Easy brace again - nerves of ice from Connolly!
46.1 Arshdeep Singh to Cooper Connolly, full on off stump. Connolly punches the ball forward and straight of extra cover towards long off for an easy brace. 3 to win now...
Long chat between bowler, captain and former skipper - Rohit has been very actively involved chatting with the bowlers today.
Right then - a penny for Connolly's thoughts? He'd have thought the chase would be done by now but as it turns out, it's not over yet. Australia need 5 runs to win off 24 deliveries. Does Connolly for a glory hit or do it in singles and twos?
46
overs
260/8score
1
0
4
0
W
0
runs
Adam Zampa*
0(1)
Cooper Connolly
57(51)
Mohammed Siraj
1/49
45.6 Mohammed Siraj to Adam Zampa, angling in straight on a length. Zampa looks to work it leg-side behind square before it hits the pad and rolls away
Can Zampa play this one out? There's still a slip. Cover drops back, with backward point also in the deep.
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Adam Zampa
*
Mohammed Siraj
Video
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