Abhishek’s 37-ball 68 went in vain as Australia chase down 126 with 40 balls to spare
Alex Malcolm31-Oct-20252:49
What explains India’s batting blowout?
A spellbinding performance from Josh Hazlewood silenced an MCG crowd of 82,438 that was dominated by India supporters and handed Australia a 1-0 series lead.Everything about the atmosphere felt like an away game for the home side except for the quintessential fast-paced Australian pitch, and Hazlewood thrived, taking 3 for 13 from four overs to bundle India out for 125 despite a stunning lone hand from Abhishek Sharma, who made 68 off 37 balls to give Australia something to chase.Abhishek could not get much strike, facing 37 balls from a possible 111 before falling in the 19th over. Harshit Rana was the only one to stay with him, making a valuable 35 from 33. But Australia’s bowlers were too good, with Nathan Ellis bagging 2 for 21 and Xavier Bartlett 2 for 39 after Hazlewood’s new-ball destruction.Related
'The more the merrier' – Hazlewood calls for more allrounders in Ashes XI
Australia and India teams among those to pay tribute to Ben Austin
Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head saw off the threat of Jasprit Bumrah early and then exploded to set up a routine chase. Marsh thumped four sixes in his 46 off 26 while Head made 28 off 15. Varun Chakravarthy bowled beautifully to bag 2 for 23 but got little support with the exception of two wickets in two balls from Bumrah when just two runs were needed to win. It made the four-wicket margin look closer than it was, given Australia won with 40 balls to spare.Hazlewood 4-0-13-3Hazlewood set the tone with his first three balls. The first was a perfect length that pitched fourth stump and nipped back to pin Shubman Gill on the pad. He was given out initially but reprieved via DRS thanks to the MCG’s steep bounce. The second ball pitched in the same spot and nipped away to beat the edge. The third ball was a searing bouncer that thudded into Gill’s helmet before he had completed an attempted pull shot. There was an audible gasp and a hush in the stadium seconds later as all players on the field rushed in with concern, all of which was completely understandable given that the pre-game tribute to Ben Austin had taken place no more than 15 minutes earlier.Shubman Gill was hit on the helmet by a Josh Hazlewood bouncer•AFP/Getty Images
Gill was fortunately fine to continue after the mandatory concussion check. But he was anything but comfortable against Hazlewood, scoring two singles in eight balls and 5 off ten in total before miscuing a lofted drive to mid-off.Sanju Samson was a surprise entrant at No. 3. He was beaten by Hazlewood but not dismissed by him. Ellis trapped him lbw at the other end and he took a review with him.Hazlewood then tormented Suryakumar Yadav. More steep bounce was gloved down the leg side and Josh Inglis dropped the chance, surprised by how much it climbed above his head. Inglis got another chance next ball when Hazlewood nipped one away off the seam to scratch the outside edge and Inglis gleefully pouched it. Tilak Varma was out two balls later trying to flick a length ball against the angle and bounce, Inglis held onto the towering skier.Hazlewood had 3 for 6 from three overs and India were 40 for 4 after the powerplay. Mitchell Marsh went for the jugular, bowling his prized stallion for a fourth straight. It nearly paid dividends with Abhishek edging another superb delivery, only for it to fly just wide of a diving Inglis and away to the rope for the only boundary off Hazlewood’s bowling.Abhishek Sharma brought up a half-century•Getty Images
Abhishek’s solo standAbhishek not only looked like he was playing on a different pitch, he looked like he was playing a different spot. As his teammates tumble, Abhishek teed off with some stunning batting. He smashed 14 off the second over of the match from Bartlett, including an outrageous inside-out drive over the cover fence to a ball that pitched outside leg. His best shot came in the fourth over from Ellis. With two men back square on the leg side, he predicted the slower ball bouncer outside leg, skipping down and leg side to upper cut it over short third.The problem was that he kept running out of partners and could not get the strike. Axar Patel was run out for a painful 7 off 12 after a mix-up trying to get him on strike. At one stage, India had faced 66 balls as a team and he had only faced 19 of them but had hit eight of those to the rope. His 50 came off 23 balls. He finally found an ally in Harshit Rana, who made an important 35 but it did come off 33 balls as Australia’s bowlers did a good job of forcing Abhishek to take singles in the middle overs. He finally found the fence again in Bartlett’s last over with inventive footwork again, stepping outside leg to carve him behind point and then outside off to flick him over fine leg. Ellis trapped him lbw with an excellent yorker, which meant Australia was only chasing 126 rather than something north of 140.Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head gave Australia a flying start•Getty Images
Travishek in sync alongside monstrous MarshThe other half of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s dynamic duo picked up where Abhishek left off to snuff out any hope of India making the small chase uncomfortable. After surviving some unplayable deliveries from Bumrah, Head shovelled him over mid-on to ease the pressure. Two flashed outside edges off Rana found the rope but in between them, he flicked him for six off the hip. Head fell to an excellent catch on the rope by Tilak.But his brisk 28 off 15 allowed Marsh to take his time. Back in February, after being dropped from Australia’s Test side having been tormented by Bumrah in the Border-Gavaskar series, Marsh joked publicly that his nephew impersonating Bumrah’s action in the backyard had continued his “nightmare”. He would have had PTSD watching a fresh Bumrah fly in from the Members’ end. Marsh played him like it was a Test match, leaving on length and defending as best he could. The lack of run-rate pressure forced Bumrah to go searching for wickets rather than continuing to stack dots. It came at a cost with four byes and five wides off consecutive balls to make Marsh’s lowly strike rate a non-issue. Once he saw off the threat, he unleashed four monstrous strikes. He pulled Rana into the second tier and launched Varun and Kuldeep for three sixes and two fours in the two overs post powerplay. He holed out to Kuldeep but the damage was done.Kuldeep and Varun were able to take four wickets between them. Bumrah’s two late strikes may inflict some psychological damage for the remainder of the series, but Australia still cantered home with 6.4 overs to spare.