Mitchell Starc’s 5-53 and a blazing 66 by Mitchell Marsh helped Australia demolish India by 10 wickets in the second one-day international to level the series at 1-1 on Sunday. Starc, a left-arm quick, rattled the Indian batting with his pace and swing to bundle out the opposition for 117 in 26 overs in Visakhapatnam. Openers Travis Head (51) and Marsh, who smashed six sixes in his 36-ball blitz, then took apart the Indian bowling to romp home in 11 overs and level the three-match series with one game left. Australia finished the chase with 39 overs to spare and bounce back from their opening loss. Starc led the team’s lethal attack with the wicket of Shubman Gill for a duck after the tourists decided to bowl first after overnight rain. Two successive strikes from Starc to get returning skipper Rohit Sharma for 13 and then Suryakumar Yadav, out for a second straight first-ball duck, pushed India onto the back foot. KL Rahul played out the hat-trick ball but lasted for just 11 more deliveries before falling leg before wicket to Starc, who returned figures of 4-31 in his first spell of six overs. Skipper Steve Smith took a stunning one-handed catch at first slip to dismiss Hardik Pandya for one off the bowling of Sean Abbott, who took three wickets. Smith went full stretch to his right and was airborne when he took the catch off an edge from Pandya, setting social media abuzz with praise for his “superman” effort. The final match of the series will be played in Chennai on Wednesday. Here are some reactions to Australia’s win over India:
Well, this ODI lasted less than a 20 over game . 37 overs across both innings, and kaam tamaam.
— Virrender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 19, 2023
Forget this , and move on Team India. Need to play the swinging ball better. #INDvsAUS
A tough day for #TeamIndia with the bat in Vizag as 🇮🇳 are all out for 117 🙁
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 19, 2023
Onto to our bowlers now for a fight back 🤞#OneFamily #INDvAUS @BCCI pic.twitter.com/j4WP2TuoOV
Thought I would watch a bit later. But it was over....
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 19, 2023
Mitchell Starc won the player of the match award for his terrific five-wicket haul.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 19, 2023
World Cup year & Starc is the best combo. pic.twitter.com/u4n72XGDN2
With inputs from AFP