Australia thrash India in 2nd ODI, level three-match series: Stats

Australia thrashed India in the 2nd ODI in Visakhapatnam to level the three-match series 1-1. The Men in Yellow chased down a paltry 118, winning by 10 wickets. Openers Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh drove Australia to a clinical win. Earlier, a magnificent five-wicket haul by Mitchell Starc mowed down India's batting line-up. Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis took five wickets between them.

Australia's decision to field first proved to be spot-on as India were reduced to 49/5. Starc breathed fire with the new ball, taking four of the first five wickets. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja added 22 runs together but to no avail. Axar Patel returned unbeaten (29*). Australia touched the 60-run mark in the sixth over and finished it off soon (11 overs).

After breathing fire at Wankhede, Starc regained his rhythm in the 2nd ODI. He disarrayed India's top order with his ravaging in-swinging deliveries. Once again, he was on a hat-trick after Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav on consecutive balls. Starc registered his ninth five-wicket haul in ODIs. He recorded figures worth 5/53 in eight overs, including a maiden (ER: 6.60).

Starc took 12 wickets against India at an average of 20.92 in ODIs from his debut (2010) to 2015. He took just five ODI wickets against them at 84.20 between 2016 and 2022. Notably, Starc is the leading wicket-taker of the ongoing ODI series (8).

Starc now has nine five-wicket hauls in ODIs, the joint-third-most with Brett Lee and Shahid Afridi. The Australian seamer broke Lasith Malinga's record of eight ODI fifers. Pakistan's Waqar Younis (13) and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (10) occupy the top-two spots. Starc now has two ODI fifers against India. Lee is the only other Australian with more ODI five-wicket hauls against the Indians (3).

Suryakumar's dismal run in ODI cricket continues as he has now recorded successive golden ducks in the format. The dasher failed to open his account in the first two ODIs against Australia. Interestingly, Starc dismissed him on both occasions, trapping him in front of the wickets. As per ESPNcricinfo, he has scored just 166 runs at 13.83 in his last 13 ODI innings.

India lost Shubman Gill, Rohit, Suryakumar, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya in the first 10 overs (51/5 at the end of first Powerplay). As per Cricbuzz, India last lost four wickets within the first 10 overs (ODIs) against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. The last instance of India losing five wickets in this phase came in 2012 against Pakistan.

This was India's third-lowest ODI score versus Australia and the lowest against the opposition in home ODIs. 63 in 1981 and 100 in 2000 are India's top-two lowest ODI scores versus the Aussies. Both these games were played in Sydney. Meanwhile, this was also India's second-lowest ODI score at home since 2000. Sri Lanka bundled India out for 112 in the 2017 Dharamsala ODI.

Gill, Suryakumar, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami failed to open their account. This was the sixth instance of four Indian batters falling for ducks in an ODI inning. India scripted this unwanted record for the second time versus Australia, the 2009 Guwahati ODI being the other instance. Pakistan (twice), Sri Lanka, and South Africa are the other sides to own this feat against India.

The Indian bowlers were in tatters while defending 118. Openers Head (51*) and Marsh (66*) demolished the Indian pace attack, making it a one-sided affair. The latter turned out to be the aggressor, having raced to his half-century off just 28 balls. Australia propelled past the 100-run mark in the ninth over itself. Head and Marsh took Australia to victory in 11 overs.

Australia have registered the biggest win against India in men's ODIs (by balls remaining: 234). They broke New Zealand's record, who recorded a 212-run win against India in 2019 (Hamilton). According to Cricbuzz, Australia have become the quickest to chase a target against India in ODIs (overs bowled). Australia are also the first side to claim two 10-wicket ODI wins against India.