Connolly, Short fifties take Australia to series win over India, seal 2nd ODI

Adelaide [Australia], October 23 : Half-centuries from Matt Short and Cooper Connolly helped Australia secure a series win over India at home, beating the Men in Blue by two wickets at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
With this win, Australia is 2-0 up in the series with a game to go. While India managed to reach a solid 264/9 thanks to half-centuries from Rohit Sharma (73 in 96 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Shreyas Iyer (61 in 77 balls, with seven fours) and a valuable late 37-run stand between Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh, Short (74 in 78 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Connolly (61 in 53 balls, with five fours and a six) kept the team afloat even as the wickets were lost. Owen's quickfire cameo of 36 in 23 balls (with two fours and three sixes) effectively killed the game for India.
In the run chase of 265 runs, the Aussie opening pair of skipper Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head started slowly. The first boundary shot of the innings came in the seventh over's final ball against Siraj by Travis Head, a maximum. The duo struggled against the opening burst of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj.
The pressure built on Aussies paid off as Arshdeep drew first blood by removing Marsh for a 24-ball 11, with a four. Australia was 30/1 in 7.2 overs.
Matt Short joined Head and ended the power play in style by pulling Arshdeep for a six over deep square, with the score at 42/1 in 10 overs.
Australia reached the 50-run mark in 11.1 overs.
Harshit Rana landed India a big breakthrough wicket of Head, for 28 in 40 balls (with a four and six), with Virat Kohli taking a catch at mid-off. Australia was 54/2 in 12.2 overs.
Short joined forces with Matt Renshaw, rotating the strike intelligently and collecting some boundaries against Nitish Kumar Reddy. The 100-run mark was up for the Aussies in 19.3 overs.
The partnership crossed the half-century mark and had been looking threatening, but Axar produced a magical delivery to remove Renshaw for 30 in 30 balls, with a four and six each. Australia was 109/3 in 21.4 overs.
Short reached his third ODI fifty in 48 balls, with three fours and a six. The spinners continued to deliver the goods, as it was Washington Sundar who removed a dangerous Alex Carey for nine. Australia was 132/4 in 27 overs.
Cooper Connolly kept collecting boundaries effortlessly against spinners, getting two of those against Axar, bringing up the 150-run mark in 31.4 overs.
The Aussies were threatening to take the match away, as Connolly, Short found easy gaps and boundaries against Harshit and Sundar. Their 50-run stand came in 51 balls, with Connolly being the aggressor.
However, it was Harshit who got his team another breakthrough, as a fine catch at deep mid-wicket by Mohammed Siraj, who had earlier dropped one, removed Short for a 78-ball 74, with four boundaries and two sixes. Australia was 187/5 in 36 overs.
While it was Harshit who gave India hope, it was his 38th over which brought Australia back in the game, with Mitchell Owen smashing him for two fours and a six. The 200-run mark was up in 37.4 overs.
Australia needed 49 runs in the final 10 overs. Owen took on Axar bravely, capping off the over with a four and a six over deep-mid-wicket, leaving Australia with 39 to get. Connolly brought the asking rate down four with a six over long-off to start the next over. The duo completed another half-century stand in just 34 balls.
Connolly reached his maiden fifty in 42 balls, with five fours and a six.
Sundar ended the 59-run stand between the duo, with Owen handing an easy catch to Arshdeep at long-on. Owen was back in the hut for a 23-ball 36, with two fours and three sixes. Australia was 246/6 in 42.3 overs.
Australia lost their seventh wicket, as Xavier Bartlett was caught by skipper Shubman on a delivery by Arshdeep. Australia was 255/7 in 44.3 overs. India also got the eighth, with Siraj removing Starc for four. Australia was 260/8 in 45.5 overs.
Aussies eventually chased down the target in 46.2 overs. Sundar (2/37) and Arshdeep (2/41) were top bowlers for India. While Harshit Rana took two wickets, he went for 59 runs in eight overs.
Earlier, hard-fought fifties from Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, along with cameos from Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh at the back end, pushed India to close on 264/9 after early setbacks.
India added 66 runs in the final 10 overs. The duo of Rana (24* in 18 balls, with three fours) and Singh (13) added vital 37 runs for the ninth wicket to push India towards a respectable total.
India's opening pair, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, started the innings to build a stable partnership and give the visitors much-needed momentum after their loss in the series opener.
Rohit Sharma struggled to put bat on ball off Josh Hazlewood, making zero runs in his first two overs. Rohit scored only six runs off his first 20 balls, the last time he scored fewer at the same point in his innings was five runs against South Africa in CWC 2019, six years ago.
Xavier Bartlett, playing his first match of the series, removed Gill for nine in the seventh over, and Virat Kohli joined Sharma on the crease. Bartlett, in the same over, removed Kohli for a duck lbw plumb in Infront of the wicket, and Shreyas Iyer joined Sharma in the middle. India was struggling at 17/2 in 6.5 overs.
This was the first time in Kohli's ODI career that he was dismissed for ducks in two back-to-back matches.
India registered their third-lowest power-play score after the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup as they finished on 29/2 with Sharma and Iyer on the crease.
India brought their 100-run mark in 23.1 overs.
Sharma took a single off Cooper Connolly's delivery in the 23rd over and brought up his half-century in style. It was his 59th half-century in the ODI format for India, and he completed it in 74 balls.
Sharma also went past Sourav Ganguly as India's third-highest run getter in ODIs. The duo of Sharma and Iyer completed a 100-run stand for the second wicket in the 27th over. In the following over, Iyer also brought up his half-century in 67 balls.
Mitchell Marsh brought back Starc into the attack, and he delivered by removing Sharma after he slammed a hard-fought 73 runs off 97 balls, including seven fours and two sixes. The 118-run partnership was undone, and Axar Patel joined Iyer in the middle.
Australia managed to crack India's resistance, with spinner Adam Zampa providing the crucial breakthrough by dismissing Shreyas Iyer for 61 (in 77 balls, with seven fours) and KL Rahul for 11. India seemed to be off track in the end as they struggled to build a strong partnership.
India reached the 200-run mark in 40.2 overs.
Bartlett got his third wicket of the day as he removed Washington Sundar for 12 runs off 14 balls, and Nitish Kumar Reddy joined Patel in the middle. Zampa gave India a double blow in the 45th over, removing Patel and Reddy for 44 (in 41 balls, with five fours) and eight respectively. India was 226/8 in 45 overs.
Harshit Rana took on Zampa in his final over of the innings, smashing him for 16 runs. Zampa finished his spell with four scalps under his belt. With the help of cameos from Harshit and Arshdeep, India finished at 264/9, a fighting total.
Brief Scores: Australia: 265/8 in 46.2 overs (Matt Short 74, Cooper Connolly 61*) and India: 264/9 (Rohit Sharma 73, Shreyas Iyer 61, Adam Zampa 4/60).