The batting all-rounder Cooper Connolly has made a stellar knock of an unbeaten 61* runs, helping the side to post a 2-wicket victory against India, played on October 23 at Adelaide.

By this win, Australia took an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the ODI series at home, proving their dominance in men’s cricket.

After being invited to bat first, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill opened the innings while Mitchell Starc opened the bowling attack.

Bartlett bagged the wickets of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli for 9 and 0, bringing a breakthrough for Australia.

However, a partnership from Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer stabilised the innings, posting a 118-run partnership for the third wicket.

Starc bagged the wicket of Rohit Sharma for 73 runs, while Zampa bagged the wicket of Shreyas Iyer for 61.

Axar Patel’s 44 did make up some contribution, helping the side to breach the 200-run mark, while KL Rahul and Washington Sundar struggled with batting.

However, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh added 24 and 13 runs in the death overs, helping the side to post 264 runs in their 50-over innings.

Adam Zampa bagged 4 wickets while Xavier Bartlett picked three wickets, and Mitchell Starc completed his spell with 2 wickets.

In the pursuit of chasing 265 runs, Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head opened the innings while Siraj opened the bowling attack.

Despite the openers having a decent start, they weren’t able to convert to big scores as Arshdeep Singh dismissed Marsh for 11 runs, while Harshit Rana bagged the wicket of Travis Head for 28 runs.

Short’s 74 runs have stabilised the innings, and contributions from Matt Renshaw and Mitchell Owen have helped Australia to reduce the pressure and march towards victory. Cooper Connolly helped the side take the innings towards the next step in their run chase.

Despite Australia losing some back-to-back wickets, Cooper Connolly made an unbeaten 61* run in the innings, helping the side to post a solid victory in the 2nd ODI.

Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar went on to pick 2 wickets each, while Siraj and Axar Patel had 1 wicket each in their spell.

Adam Zampa was named the Player of the Match. Speaking on the post-match conference, Zampa said, ” Nice to beat India. It’s always been a good battle against them, particularly in one-day cricket. Even in India, we’ve always tested them, and they’ve come here and tested us at times as well.”

“Two teams that have adapted to the conditions really well. They’re the best team in the world. They have been for a little while now. So, it’s great to test ourselves against them. Those guys (pacers) have been owning power play for a long time,” said Zampa.

“So, I have been very grateful and lucky. And then you’ve got the guys coming in, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, doing their thing through the middle. It makes my job a lot easier in the middle. The beauty of Mitch (Marsh) is that he’s chilled, relaxed, never too emotional. We run our own show out there with the ball,” concluded Adam Zampa.

The final match of the ODI series will be played on October 25 at Sydney Cricket Ground.