Sydney Cricket Ground will host the second ODI between India and Australia on November 29. After a thumping win by Australia in the series opener it will be a must-win match for the Indians if they want to stay in the competition.
The venue is the same, SCG and that means another run-fest is on the cards. In similar conditions, while Australia will look to repeat their last performance, Indian batsmen will look to come at par as their Australian counterparts.
Australia, batting first set a mammoth target for the Indian cricket team last time out. With two hundred from Aaron Finch (114) and Steve Smith (105) and a couple of useful knocks from David Warner (69) and Glenn Maxwell (45), the Australian batting line up looked in great touch.
The most interesting part was to watch the comeback innings of Smith and Maxwell. While Maxwell was completely out of form during the last IPL, Smith failed to make an impact throughout. But both changed the dimension of Australian innings at Sydney on Friday. Smith smashed his fasted ODI 100 and Maxwell scored 45 runs off just 19 balls.
Apart from Marcus Stoinis, everyone from the top-order contributed. For Aussie bowlers, it was an easy job to defend that mountain of runs and still, Adam Zampa showed his class with four wickets and Josh Hazlewood chipped in with three scalps.
Hazzlewood and Zampa were the ⭐ bowlers for Australia! #AUSvsIND #TeamIndia #CricketAustralia #Hazzlewood #Zampa #cricketnews pic.twitter.com/EkVcYAUhVh
— Cricket News (@cricketnews_com) November 27, 2020
They just need to continue what they are doing and with form and consistency in their favor, Australians are the favorites for the next game. Marcus Stoinis has a side-strain and can be replaced by either experienced Moises Henriques or the youngster Cameron Green making his debut.
With a target of 375 on-board, none of the Indian batsmen could stay longer. Many of them got the start but failed to capitalize the same. India required two big knocks from the top-order but they found none to deliver. Shikhar Dhawan looked in good tough with 86-ball 74 runs whereas the middle-order had a massive collapse. Virat Kohli scored only 21 runs while Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for two runs followed by 12 from KL Rahul. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, India’s middle-order batsmen have the extra responsibility of stabilizing the innings.
1⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ @hardikpandya7 crosses an important milestone! #indiatourofaustralia #AUSvsIND #TeamIndia #Pandya #cricketnews pic.twitter.com/AIlvRhWAx0
— Cricket News (@cricketnews_com) November 27, 2020
Hardik Pandya scored 90 runs off 76 balls but it was too late for Indians to make a comeback. Indian bowlers had a horrible outing on Friday as no one stood out except Mohammed Shami (3/59). Their lack of a sixth bowling option is hurting them badly and it was evident.
The Indian players have the ability to level this series tomorrow at Sydney. The team is full of big names who need to come together and deliver. Indian team may opt for Shardul Thakur or debutant Thangarasu Natarajan in place of struggling Navdeep Saini.
Key players
Australia
Steve Smith
Source: Twitter (ICC)
After a not so great IPL season, Steve Smith surprisingly looked completely in sync in the first ODI match against India. He has already scored more than 1000 runs in ODIs against India with an average above 63 with four hundred. No wonder why he is the most dependant name of the batting order for Australia against India tomorrow.
Adam Zampa
The go-to bowler of Australia nowadays whenever the team needs a breakthrough. Adam Zampa has scalped 14 wickets in his last four ODIs including a four-wicket haul on Friday. This speaks for his consistency. Adam Zampa needs to continue with his good show to restrict the star-studded Indian batting line-up.
India
Virat Kohli
Source: Twitter (ICC)
The most dependable batter Indian cricket team has in the middle-order. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, as a senior player Kohli has a lot more to contribute. The skipper will also miss most of the part of Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Whereas the Indian cricket team needs his spark, he also would like to have some good memories in the limited-overs series before bidding adieu to Australia.
Jasprit Bumrah
A gamechanger on any given day. At the initial stage of IPL 2020, Bumrah looked a bit out of track but once he got back his rhythm, he became a major weapon of his side. This time also, one can expect him to do well in the upcoming matches despite a poor outing. Moreover, to stop the Aussie batters, Bumrah is the most important wicket-taking option Virat Kohli has.
Predicted XIs
Australia
David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
India
Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer (C), KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah