Australia fend off India in second straight match to seal ODI series

Australia all-rounders Matt Short and Cooper Connolly scored half-centuries as the hosts claimed a two-wicket victory over India at Adelaide Oval to seal their one-day international (ODI) series with a match to spare.

Number three Short scored a brave 74 after injuring a finger in the field, while 22-year-old talent Connolly celebrated his first international fifty with an unbeaten 61 to reel in India’s 264 for nine with 3.4 overs to spare.

Though Australia stumbled to 260 for eight after late wickets, Connolly pushed the home side within a run of their target before victory came with a wide.

“It was good fun. I was obviously really nervous,” said left-hander Connolly. “Super stoked for the boys to get the win.”

Rohit Sharma top-scored for the visitors with a hard-earned 73 off 97 balls and overtook Sourav Ganguly to move into third place on India’s ODI runs list.

But it was a deflating night for India who spilled a number of catches and saw Virat Kohli fall for a second successive duck for the first time in an ODI career of more than 300 matches.

In what could end up being Kohli’s last tour with India, the 36-year-old number three was trapped lbw by Australia’s rising paceman Xavier Bartlett on the fourth ball he faced.

That was four balls fewer than he faced in the Perth opener on Sunday when he fell to Mitchell Starc and a brilliant catch by Connolly.

Sent in to bat on a glorious afternoon after home skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss, India were well tested by Australia’s quicks, with Bartlett (3-39) removing India captain Shubman Gill for nine and Kohli in the seventh over.

Rohit was lucky to emerge intact from the pace assault but ultimately steadied his team with his 59th ODI half-century and a 118-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer (61).

Spinner Adam Zampa slowed India’s charge with wickets in the middle overs, finishing with 4-60 and the man-of-the-match award on his return to the side.

But tailenders Harshit Rana (24 not out) and Arshdeep Singh (13) swung hard in a 37-run partnership for the ninth wicket to give India a defendable total.

Though openers Marsh (11) and Travis Head (28) failed to build a platform for Australia, Short and number four Matt Renshaw (30) dug in well.

Short was dropped on 55 when he cut Washington Sundar straight to Mohammed Siraj, who grassed the simplest of chances at backward point.

Siraj made amends later, though, catching Short when he pulled a Rana bouncer to deep square.

Connolly then anchored a swashbuckling 59-run stand with Mitchell Owen that put Australia firmly in control.

Owen’s dismissal for 36 off Sundar almost turned the game as Australia lost 3-14 in a late collapse.

But Connolly coolly struck a pair of twos off Arshdeep before the quick conceded the winning run with a wild bouncer that sailed well over the all-rounder’s head.

The three-match series winds up at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Indian cricket authorities have petitioned the country’s top court to make match-fixing a criminal offence in a bid to ramp up the pressure on illegal bookmakers and bent players.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the world’s richest cricket body, has argued to the Supreme Court that “the act of match-fixing constitutes a criminal offence”.

The BCCI said it had stepped up to protect the sport, in court documents seen by AFP on Thursday.

“The prevalence of corrupt practices in cricket matches has an adverse impact on the game and undermines the integrity of the sport,” the BCCI wrote in documents filed with the court registrar on October 14.

The BCCI’s legal argument is that match-fixing counts as cheating by deception -- an existing offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) -- and therefore should be counted as a crime.

The case continues.

The appeal stems from allegations of match-fixing during a state cricket league in 2018-2019 in Karnataka involving six people -- including two players, the coach and team owner.

The High Court in the southern state dismissed it as a criminal case in 2022.

Agencies