All eyes will be on Mitch Marsh and Mitchell Starc on Wednesday night as Australia attempts to secure victory in the ODI series finale against India in Chennai.
The three-match series is locked at 1-1 after Australia followed up Friday’s limp five-wicket loss in Mumbai with a crushing 10-wicket triumph in Vizag.
Australia was bowled out for a paltry 188 in the series opener, despite the best efforts of Marsh (81 off 65 balls).
But it was a complete turnaround on Sunday, with Starc snaring 5-53 to skittle India for 117, before Marsh (66no off 36 balls) and Travis Head (51no off 30 balls) helped Australia reach the victory target in 11 overs.
The whole match in total lasted just 37 overs in what was arguably India’s most embarrassing loss in its ODI history.
Starc and Marsh have been shining lights for Australia during the series.
Marsh, who has been used as a makeshift opener in the absence of the injured David Warner, is averaging a staggering 147 at a strike rate of 145.5.
Starc has snared eight wickets at an average of 12.75, with his pace and swing proving too hot for India to handle.
“To be honest it’s horrible standing at slip. I feel like they come at 180 miles an hour off the bat,” Marsh said when asked about Starc’s awesome form.
“It’s a pleasure to watch. We know what he’s able to do with the white ball, especially when he’s swinging it. He’s the best in the world.”
Warner missed the series opener to give him more time to recover from the elbow hairline fracture he suffered during the Test series.
He was ruled out of game two after suffering a cork to his quad and it remains to be seen whether he’ll be available for Wednesday’s clash.
If Warner is ruled out again, it will give Marsh another chance to stake his claim to become a permanent opener in ODI cricket, in time for this year’s World Cup in India.
Another selection intrigue ahead of Wednesday’s clash surrounds Ashton Agar, who was overlooked for the opening two games.
Agar returned home early from the 2-1 Test series loss in India after being leapfrogged in the spinning pecking order by Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann.
If he misses out again on Wednesday, it would mean Agar has made two trips to India in the space of six weeks for a grand total of zero games.
Starc is keen to wrap up a series victory against India.
“There’s parts of this series which (we have had) the World Cup in the back of the mind,” Starc said.
“But predominantly for this group it’s ‘We’ve still got a chance to win a one-day series in India’, which is pretty special.”
-AAP
