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Australia will look to hammer in the advantage when they take on India in the second ODI of their five-match series at the Gabba in Brisbane and you can follow live scores and a blog of this second match on Friday from 2:20 pm (AEDT).
The preparation of a typically flat deck at the WACA was followed by Australia chasing down 310 with some ease.
The game did go into the final over of the Australian innings but the result looked done and dusted even before the final 15 overs of the innings came around.
Steve Smith continued from where he had left off against India last summer and George Bailey took advantage of the absence of DRS and three other missed run-out opportunities to hit centuries and help the hosts go 1-0 up.
India had earlier ridden on Rohit Sharma’s brilliant unbeaten 171 to make 3/309 in their 50 overs but it looked like they had fallen around 20-25 runs short of the par score on that WACA road. Sharma and Virat Kohli had been involved in a double-century stand for the second wicket but critics would later blame them for not accelerating early enough.
Unfortunately for India, they are coming off some poor ODI form in 2015 and one of the chief reasons behind it has been the inability to the middle and lower-middle order to get going. That has led to the top-order taking extra responsibility and could have probably led to the late decision to put their foot on the pedal.
That said, the Indian bowling looked equally listless after having reduced Australia to 2/21 and it’s tough to see how they would have defended even 330. Such was Smith and Bailey’s form, it wouldn’t have been easy.
Going into this game, India have bigger selection worries than Australia.
Australia will be without David Warner after he was released on a paternity leave, and Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh will be vying for that opening spot. Both have been in good Big Bash League form and Marsh might get the nod having been selected in the squad earlier.
The other change will be a more interesting one – who will replace Mitchell Marsh? Marsh was rested from the side and John Hastings has been added to lend fast bowling support. Kane Richardson is also a part of the squad, so he might get the first nod.
India’s woes stem from the fact they opted to bring only four frontline seamers in the squad.
Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma’s injuries before the first ODI forced them into bringing in Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the playing XI which meant he wasn’t even in the country for 48 hours before he had to play a game.
The Indian spinners went for plenty and added to their woes and with captain MS Dhoni not rating Rishi Dhawan as a medium-pace all-rounder anyway, it will be interesting to see what does India do.
There’s a good chance there will be just one change in the line-up – Ishant Sharma will come in for one of the speedsters – but if the surface demands, Dhoni could be tempted into playing a four-pronged seam bowling attack.
With India having won just 10 of the 42 games they have played in Australia, one way or the other, it won’t be easy going for them.
You can follow the live scores and a blog of this Australia versus India ODI from 2:20pm (AEDT) on Friday and post your comments in the section below.
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