After winning the first match of the one day international series comfortably, there was a strong possibility that India will bounce back in the second. Winning the toss, Australian skipper, Aaron Finch decided to bat and put up a competitive score of 298 runs, thanks to Shaun Marsh's brilliant century. However this total proved to be of little difficulty for India to chase down as they went on to win the match in the last over of the innings.
Here are a Few Things That Went Wrong for Australia
The Opening Partnership
The openers, Aaron Finch and Alex Carey repeated what happened in the first odi and got out early in the innings. First wicket fell on a score of just 20 runs in the form of Finch and Carey followed him when the score was 28. To lay a strong base for a big total, openers need to provide a positive and decent enough start. Both the openers disappointed in both matches. Had there been a positive start to the Australian innings, things could have been much better.
Handscomb and Stoinis Couldn't Convert Their Starts
As Shaun Marsh was playing very well, Handscomb and Stoinis were just needed to play a supporting role to him. Both these players got the starts but if they had played with caution, they could have easily scored 20-30 odd runs more which would have laid a strong base for Marsh and Maxwell to finish the innings on a high.
Shaun Marsh's and Glenn Maxwell's Wickets
Both Marsh and Maxwell played excellent cricket through their innings but both of them fell to Bhuveneshwar Kumar in the same over at a very crucial stage. Had one of them stayed through the end of the innings, Australia would have finished with 10-15 more runs on the board. Those extra runs would have put more pressure on Indian batsmen and encouraged false shots.
Kohli - Dhoni Partnership
Australia got an opening after the fall of Ambati Rayudu and instead of approaching with an attacking mindset, Australia were waiting for either Dhoni or Kohli to make a mistake. Kohli and Dhoni started slowly which didn't bother Australians but in the process, the duo consolidated and unleashed towards the end of the innings. Instead of waiting for Kohli and Dhoni to do a mistake, they could have attacked with a better field placing and forced the errors.
Playing Siddle
Peter Siddle is a World class bowler in tests but including him in the one day squad after such a long time at an age when he is probably thinking of retirement is not a good idea. No doubt Siddle is one of Australia's finest bowlers in the longest format of the game but there is a huge difference between the two formats. He has given away 106 runs in 16 overs with an economy close to 7 runs per over and took only one wicket in two matches. I am not being harsh on Siddle, he is not be blamed, it is the selection panel and the captain who decide the playing 11.
The third and last one day international match between the two sides will be played on 18th of january and I expect them to make one change at least. They can bring in Billy Stanlake or Adam Zampa in place of Siddle.
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