IND vs AUS: Matthew Short, Cooper Connolly Help Australia Knock Over India By 2 Wickets To Take Unassailable 2-0 Lead

India vs Australia 2nd ODI: Australia's Cooper Connolly (61), Matthew Short (74) scored individual fifties under pressure as Australia beat India by 2 wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series on Thursday. All-rounder Mitchell Owen played a quickfire hand of 36 off 23 balls to help the hosts keep control in the run chase of 265 till the 42nd over.

However, during the last 10 overs, Australia suffered a mini-collapse from 246 for 5 to 260 for 8. Taking the charge from thereon, Connolly held his nerve to see his side home along with Adam Zampa.

Also Read: IND vs AUS 2nd ODI Scorecard

Earlier, India huffed and puffed their way to 264 for 9 in 50 overs after Australia won the toss and invited them to bat first. Former India captain Rohit Sharma scored a 97-ball 73, along with Shreyas Iyer (61) scored individual fifties after skipper Shubman Gill (9) and Virat Kohli (0) fell in quick succession to Australia's Xavier Bartlett, who picked up 3 crucial wickets in his 10-over spell.

The Australian bowling attack was powered by leg-spinner Adam Zampa who picked up four wickets to put a dent in India's batting line-up. He won the 'player of the match' for his exploits.

Also, pacer Josh Hazlewood remained unlucky as his wickets column remained empty. But he put in extra pressure on Indian batters initially with his 'miserly' bowling. He gave just 29 runs in 10 overs as he made the ball swing in the middle overs as well.

On the other hand, Indian bowlers did put in extra efforts to tame the Australian batting line-up. However, the visitors always stayed ahead in the game due to healthy run-rate despite losing too many wickets in the final overs.

Also Read: South Africa beat Pakistan in the second Test to level series 1-1

India now trail the series 0-2, giving Australia an unassailable lead going into the final ODI in Sydney on Saturday.

Australia Men's Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Team Match Scorecard:

India: 264/9; 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 73, Shreyas Iyer 61, Axar Patel 44; Adam Zampa 4/60, Xavier Bartlett 3/39) lost to Australia 265/8; 46.2 overs (Matthew Short 74, Cooper Connolly Washington Sundar 2/37, Arshdeep Singh 2/41, Harshit Rana 2/59) by two wickets.