Australia vs India 2018/19, 2nd ODI: 4 Reasons why Australia lost the match
After winning the first ODI in a convincing manner, the Aussies were looking to win the series with a victory against Kohli’s India at the Adelaide Oval. Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat surface. India dropped Khaleel Ahmed in favour of Mohammed Siraj while Australia did not make any changes to their lineup.
The openers departed early for Australia while Khawaja disappointed again. Shaun Marsh and Handscomb put on a decent partnership before Jadeja got of Handscomb with a brilliant direct hit from backward point. Marsh looked at ease throughout his innings and finished with 131 runs.
Chasing 299, India got off to a blistering start before Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed by Behrendorff. Rohit Sharma departed after a well made 43 while Rayudu looked set before throwing away his wicket to Maxwell. Kohli got to his 24th century while chasing and Dhoni finished the proceedings in style. Here are the 4 reasons why Australia lost the match:
#1 Australia’s opening woes
Ever since David Warner was banned, Australia has tried a few combinations at the top but nothing has worked for them. In the ongoing ODI series, Alex Carey and Aaron Finch have opened the innings but both of them have looked unsettled before getting dismissed cheaply.
The Australian limited overs skipper has lacked consistency in this tour and yet again in this match he looked uncomfortable at the crease before throwing away his wicket. Bhuvi and Shami did a perfect job with the new ball by bowling a stump to stump line and did not allow Finch to free his arms. Both of them utilised the new ball well and consistently bowled inswingers to Finch.
Finch has the habit of planting his front foot across and leaving a big gap between bat and pad. That weakness resulted in his fall yet again as he inside edged an in-ducker onto the stumps. Alex Carey was on the receiving end of a perfectly directed bouncer from Shami and top-edged it to Dhawan at midwicket.