Starc stars as Head and Marsh guide Australia to 10-wicket rout of India

Australia hammered India by 10 wickets with 39 overs to spare in Visakhapatnam to level their three-match ODI series at 1-1.

The Baggy Greens lost badly in the opening match, being bowled all out for 188 runs, but they cruised to victory at YS Raja Reddy Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

India were bowled out for just 117 runs off 26 balls after being sent out to bat first, with Mitchell Starc (5-53) claiming a five-wicket haul in a truly dominant display from the tourists.

Australia's opening batters Mitchell Marsh (66 not out) and Travis Head (51 not out) remained unbeaten to confirm victory inside four hours.

The sides will reconvene in Chennai on Wednesday for the deciding match.

183.33 - @CricketAus's Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head's put up an unbeaten partnership of 121 from 66 balls in today's #INDvAUS game, with the strike rate of 183.33 being the highest for any opening stand in a men's ODI in India (min. 10 balls). Walloped. pic.twitter.com/a5BRiuqsBS
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) March 19, 2023

India had lost only one of their nine ODIs at this venue prior to Sunday, but Shubman Gill was sent packing for a duck off the third ball to set the tone for what was to come.

Returning skipper Rohit Sharma (13) started well with a couple of boundaries, but he did not last much longer and India never found any real rhythm.

Only four players reached double figures, with Virat Kohli (31), Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Axar Patel (29 not out) struggling to cause Australia any real problems.

Starc starred with the ball, responsible for the wickets of Mohammed Siraj (0), KL Rahul (9), Suryakumar Yadav (0), Shubman Gill (0) and Rohit.

India's target of 118 for victory was never going to trouble Australia, and so it proved as the explosive pair of Head and Marsh made light work of the hosts' bowlers.

Head smashed Siraj for four successive boundaries in a 50-run stand with Marsh for the first wicket, with the Aussies sealing an emphatic win in just 11 overs.

Marsh and Head blitz completes the job

The best India could hope for after a rather embarrassing batting effort was prolonging this second ODI for as long as possible for the paying spectators.

Marsh and Head clearly had other ideas as they put up an unbeaten partnership of 121 from 66 balls.

That strike rate of 183.33 is the highest for any opening stand in an ODI in India from a minimum of 10 balls.

Sensational Starc leads the way

Take nothing away from Marsh and Head, but the foundations for this incredible victory were laid by Starc, who got five wickets in an ODI for the ninth time.

The defeat was India's first in 10 ODI matches on home soil, ending what was the second-longest active winning streak of any nation in the format.