That brings to an end of the coverage of this encounter. For now, it’s me Hitesh Peddurwar signing off along with my co-commentator Deepak Prakash our scorer/analyst Manish Bishnoi.
Mitchell Marsh (Australia Captain): "These days, 270 is usually a bit below par, but we knew that with early wickets, we'd be in the game. It shows how important partnerships with the tailenders can be.
The ball was moving, and we put them under pressure while defending the total. Hardie was excellent, and it's a fantastic win.
I think the main thing for us is to focus on what we’re trying to achieve. Playing against England in England is always challenging. We've dealt with a few injuries, but everyone stayed calm, and we welcomed back some key experience today. Overall, really pleased with the team's performance."
Harry Brook (England Captain):" I think we bowled really nicely, to restrict them to 270 was a really good job by the bowlers on this pitch. Probably we lost many wickets in the powerplay. We gave a couple of early boundaries in the over while they were batting (Alex Carey with tailenders).
We have good ball-strikers. We are a very young side, against one of the best teams in the world. It's only two games in which we will be looking to learn. I think there are a lot of positives we can take from these two games. It's just that things haven't gone our way."
Alex Carey (Player of the Match): "It has been a quiet winter. It's a bit of pre-season work. It's pretty cold in Australia, so spending some time indoors and working on my game has been nice. We thought they bowled really well up front and put us under pressure.
Hazlewood did a fantastic job staying in at the end. The two big quicks came in today, brought experience to the group, and took the early wickets we were after. Hardie contributed well with the bat and picked up a couple of wickets. It's great to have an opportunity in this side—it's a lot of fun."
Player of the Match: Alex Carey
Time for the post-match presentation....
Most Successive Wins in ODIs: 21 – Australia (Jan 2003 - May 2003) 14* – Australia (Oct 2023 - Sep 2024) 13 – Sri Lanka (Jun 2023 - Oct 2023) 12 – South Africa (Feb 2005 - Oct 2005) 12 – Pakistan (Nov 2007 - Jun 2008) 12 – South Africa (Sep 2016 - Feb 2017)
18:31 Local Time & 22:31 IST| That's it!!! Australia has completely outplayed England today and has won the game by 68 runs. They lead the series by 2-0.
Earlier in the game, after getting invited to bat first. Australia made a decent start with Matthew Short and Travis Head adding 46 runs. Short was out for 29, followed by Head (29) and Steven Smith (4) in quick succession, thanks to Brydon Carse’s bowling. At 89/3, Australia was under pressure. Glenn Maxwell hit a six but soon fell for just 7, giving Adil Rashid his 200th ODI wicket.
Alex Carey played a key knock, scoring 74, and added 55 runs with Aaron Hardie (23) before Carse struck again. Australia was 221/9, but Carey and Josh Hazlewood (4*) added 49 crucial runs for the last wicket before Carey was finally dismissed.
Mitchell Marsh (60) and Marnus Labuschagne (19) earlier built a solid partnership, but Jacob Bethell broke through, dismissing both batters. Carse took three wickets, while Potts, Rashid, and Bethell claimed two each, as England restricted Australia to a total of 270 runs.
England's chase of 271 got off to a shaky start as they kept losing wickets regularly. Openers Ben Duckett and Philip Salt managed a 26-run stand before Salt fell for 12. England quickly found themselves in trouble at 65/5 within 9.3 overs.
Jacob Bethell and Jamie Smith gave England some hope, stitching together a 55-run partnership for the sixth wicket. However, Glenn Maxwell broke the stand in the 22nd over, dismissing Bethell for 25. Jamie Smith fought hard but fell just short of a half-century, scoring 49.
In the end, England was bowled out for 202 runs.
Mitchell Starc was the standout bowler with three wickets, while Josh Hazlewood, Aaron Hardie, and Glenn Maxwell took two wickets each. Adam Zampa also contributed with a wicket, sealing a comfortable win for Australia.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentation ceremony!
W GONE! Starc puts the final nail in the coffin! England are skittled for 202 runs, losing by 68 runs. Starc bends his back and bowls a short of a length delivery angling into the batter. Stone gets in an awful position and tries to drop his wrist down by bending low but the ball ricochets off the arms of Stone and brushes the back side of the bat. Flies towards Smith at slip, who backpedals and takes it safely. Australia win the second ODI to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.
40.1 M Starc to O Stone
0 Around the wicket. Full-length delivery on the stumps. Stone drives it back at the stumps.
Deepak will take us till the end of the match.
OVER 40
England
202/9
Matthew Potts
7(17)
Olly Stone
1(1)
Glenn Maxwell
2-15(6.0)
39.6 G Maxwell to O Stone
1 Stone gets off the mark with a single. Good length delivery outside the off-stump line, Stone punches it towards deep covers.