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On Thursday, October 23, Australia defeated India by two wickets in a humdinger of the second ODI of the three-match series at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead. After restricting India to just 264 runs on the back of exceptional bowling spells from player of the match Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood, the hosts needed fifties from Matt Short and Cooper Connolly to get past the target in the 47th over of the innings.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh decided to field first and his decision proved to be spot on. Xavier Bartlett dismissed new India ODI captain Shubman Gill for nine before getting the big fish, Virat Kohli for no score in four balls in Adelaide. The former India captain acknowledged the crowd at the Adelaide Oval after losing his wicket for a duck twice in a row when they were applauding him off to the pavilion.
Following that, Rohit Sharma, who captained India to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 win earlier this year, shared a 118-run partnership for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer, to bring the team back into the contest. Sharma scored 73 off 97 with seven fours and two sixes before Mitchell Starc dismissed him just before Adam Zampa cleaned up Iyer for 61 off 77 with seven fours to his name.
KL Rahul, who batted exceedingly well in tough conditions at the Optus Stadium in Perth in the first ODI, was also bowled out on the bowling of Zampa for 11 off 15, leaving India in some trouble at 174/5 in the 37th over. Axar Patel batted fluently for his 44 off 41 with five fours to his name while wickets fell at the other end before Adam Zampa got his man with just five overs remaining in the Indian innings.
Indian pacer Harshit Rana scored a quick-fire 24 off just 18 with three fours, to play a key role in helping them reach 264/9 in their allotted 50 overs. In the run chase, Australian openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head found it tough to bat against the new ball but they batted time and played it out prior to their dismissals to Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana respectively, allowing the middle order to take the team forward.
Matt Short and Matt Renshaw shared a 55-run stand at just about a run-a-ball, to bring Australia back into the run chase before the latter was cleaned up by Axar Patel for his 30 off 30 with a four and a six to his name. Alex Carey lost his stumps in an attempt to sweep Washington Sundar for just nine, leaving Australia 132/4 in 27 overs, not an ideal situation at all for the hosts.
Despite that, Matt Short, who got a couple of lives in his innings, completed his fifty before getting out to a bouncer from Harshit Rana on 74 off 78 with four fours and two sixes. With half their side back in the pavilion, Mitch Owen joined Cooper Connolly in the middle, and the two youngsters for Australia blitzed their way towards the Indian target despite finding themselves in a tricky spot.
They shared a quick-fire 59-run stand for the sixth wicket before Mitch Owen, who had scored 36 off just 23 with two fours and three sixes, lost his wicket to Washington Sundar, giving India a slight glimmer of hope while defending 18 runs. Arshdeep Singh got the better of Xavier Bartlett before Mohammed Siraj dismissed Mitchell Starc, to bring India within two wickets of a famous win, but Cooper Connolly (61* off 53 with five fours and one six) held his nerve to take Australia over the line after scoring his maiden fifty in ODI cricket.
