(Image source from: AP)
Matthew Short made India regret their poor fielding during his BBL game at Adelaide Oval, while Cooper Connolly kept his cool at the end as Australia secured the ODI series on a day when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had different results with their batting. While chasing 265 runs under the lights, after player of the match Adam Zampa captured four wickets, Australia found themselves struggling at 132 for 4 before Short and Connolly got things back on track with a partnership that added fifty runs. In his 17th ODI, Short achieved a personal best of 74 runs from 78 balls, while inexperienced allrounders Connolly and Mitchell Owen helped seal Australia's series victory with a win by seven wickets in the first ODI. Although Australia lost three quick wickets later, Connolly's steadiness guaranteed that the third ODI in Sydney would not impact the series outcome.
The great performances by Short, Connolly, and Owen will satisfy Australia’s leadership as they aim to develop strength for the 2027 World Cup. Owen hit 36 runs off 23 balls in his first ODI innings, while Connolly finished with an unbeaten 61 runs from 53 balls leading Australia to achieve the target in the 47th over. Connolly had only scored 10 runs in three earlier ODI innings but has demonstrated a talent for excelling in crucial moments during his early career. Despite putting up a fight until the end, India has faced a disappointing experience in the 50-over format at the beginning of Shubman Gill's captaincy. After being sent to bat under sunny conditions at the Adelaide Oval, India maintained the same playing XI but struggled to find momentum, even though Rohit and Shreyas Iyer created a promising 118-run partnership for the third wicket.
For the first time in his esteemed ODI career, Kohli has recorded back-to-back ducks, but Rohit performed much better, scoring 73 runs off 97 balls, thus surpassing Sourav Ganguly to take third place on India's ODI runs leaderboard. Australia's fast bowlers created movement off the pitch, with swing bowler Xavier Bartlett being an effective choice after stepping in for a resting Nathan Ellis. Although Josh Hazlewood bowled without success in his first spell, Bartlett shocked India's top order by dismissing Gill and Kohli in the seventh over. Together, Bartlett and leg-spinner Zampa took seven wickets, yet Hazlewood was still the standout bowler despite not taking any wickets, allowing only 29 runs in his ten overs.
After a successful new-ball attack in Perth cheered Australia's leadership in preparation for the Ashes, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc kept their strong performance going into the international summer with their effective bowling. Hazlewood began with two maidens during a seven-over spell, putting Rohit under significant pressure, though he felt frustrated after two unsuccessful reviews. Rohit is under a lot of pressure regarding his future as India starts preparing for the 2027 World Cup. Following a rough 8 runs in Perth, Rohit was nearly run out in the third over by a direct throw from Owen.
Rohit struggled to handle the precise bowling of Hazlewood, who consistently delivered balls of a longer length with a lot of seam movement. At one point, Rohit went 17 balls without scoring any runs against Hazlewood. With runs hard to come by and not getting many opportunities to bat, a frustrated Gill attempted to attack but ended up hitting Bartlett’s ball to Mitchell Marsh at mid-off. Unlike his strong performance in Test matches, Gill's start as ODI captain has been quiet, with scores of 10 and 9.
Everyone was focused on Kohli after his much-anticipated return to international play ended with him scoring a duck off eight balls in Perth. Here, he lasted only four balls before being out lbw from an inswinger by Bartlett, who later confessed on TV that he was aiming for an outswinger. Before this series, Kohli had never been out without scoring in his 29 previous ODI innings in Australia as he left the field to warm applause at a venue where he had previously thrived across different formats. Rohit remained unconvincing, scoring just 14 off 40 balls, until he finally connected with Hazlewood, hitting him down the ground. Iyer’s fluent play boosted Rohit’s confidence until he fell easily to a harmless short ball from Starc, who was brought back into the game in the 30th over.
On a field where he has frequently excelled for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, Short was much more aggressive from the start but was lucky to escape a run-out chance on 14 and then got dropped by Axar at point. Similar to his performance in Perth, he seemed calm and scored 30 runs off 30 balls before being clean bowled by a high delivery from Axar. India got back into the game when Alex Carey, who was replacing Josh Philippe in the lineup, was dismissed by Washington Sundar while trying a sweep shot that has caused him trouble in the past. However, Rana’s plan of short bowling didn’t work as the pressure lifted due to several powerful hits from Owen and Connolly.
