Daijiworld Media Network - Adelaide

Adelaide, Oct 23: Rohit Sharma played a crucial innings, reaching a half-century to stabilize India’s batting against Australia in the second ODI on Thursday. The seasoned opener brought up his 59th ODI half-century off 74 balls with a single off Cooper Connolly, guiding India past early troubles after losing two quick wickets.

Sharma partnered with Shreyas Iyer, both reaching their fifties, to steady the innings and help India cross the century mark. The duo’s composed batting came after a challenging start, with Indian skipper Shubman Gill dismissed for nine and Virat Kohli falling for a duck, his second consecutive in the series.

Australian pacer Xavier Bartlett made an early impact, taking two wickets in quick succession, sending Sharma’s compatriots – Gill and Kohli – back to the pavilion in the same over. Despite the early setbacks, Sharma and Iyer’s partnership kept India afloat.

India fielded an unchanged XI from the first ODI in Perth, while Australia made two changes, bringing in Alex Carey for Josh Philippe and Bartlett in place of Nathan Ellis. Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Playing XI:

India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.