Adelaide ODI: Marsh's ton helps Aussies post 298 runs

Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh played a blistering knock of 131 runs to help his side set a solid target of 299 runs for India in the second ODI here at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.

Opting to bat first, Australia did not get to the best of starts as they lost their skipper Aaron Finch (6) in the seventh over of the match. Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a full-length delivery and scattered Finch's stumps to give India an early breakthrough.

Soon after, another Australian opener Alex Carey (18) walked back to the pavilion when he failed to tackle a bouncer from Mohammed Shami. Carey tried to hook the delivery but ended up giving a simple catch to Shikhar Dhawan at mid-wicket.

 

Providing stability to the crumbling Australian batting order, batsmen Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh stitched a 56-run partnership.

Just when Australia seemed to be on top of the situation, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja aimed directly for the stumps and succeeded in dismissing Khawaja at a score of 21.

The next batsman Peter Handscomb, along with Marsh, added another 52 runs to the team's total before being caught at long off by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at a score of 20.

Next man to walk into the field was Marcus Stoinis, who played an innings of 29 runs before being caught by MS Dhoni behind the stumps off Shami's delivery.

Wickets kept falling from one end, but Marsh held firm.

Glenn Maxwell played a quick knock of 48 runs, ticking the Australian scoreboard at a rapid pace. He built a crucial 94-run partnership with Marsh before being sent back to the pavilion by Kumar. In the same over, Kumar scalped the wicket of Marsh, who tried to loft a slower delivery to give Jadeja an easy catch at long off.

Australian fast bowlers Jhye Richardson and Peter Siddle contributed scores of 2 and 0, respectively, to the team's total before departing back to the pavilion.

Spinner Nathon Lyon finished off things in style with a six and remained unbeaten, along with Jason Behrendorff at the score of 12.

For India, Kumar scalped four wickets followed by Shami's count of three wickets. While debutant pacer Mohammed failed to impress with the bowl, spinner Jadeja picked up one wicket in the match.