Indian opener Rohit Sharma broke the shackles with two towering sixes off Mitchell Owen in the second ODI against Australia on October 23 at Adelaide Oval.
Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to field first, with the hosts dominating most of the game early on.
Owen came in to bowl his second over, the 19th of the innings, with Rohit at the crease. The right-handed batter executed a textbook pull shot, meeting a short delivery just below shoulder height. Rohit timed it perfectly, sending the ball over deep backward square leg for the first six of the innings. The shot helped him and Shreyas Iyer bring up a 50-run partnership, stabilising India after early losses.
On the third ball of the same over, Owen bowled another short delivery, and Rohit stepped onto the front foot to pummel it over deep square leg for his second six in three balls. Throughout the innings, Rohit chose his shots carefully, leaving risky deliveries and punishing only the ones in his hitting zone. He eventually brought up his 59th ODI half-century off 74 balls, marking his slowest fifty since 2015.
Earlier, India had lost two crucial wickets inside the powerplay. Shubman Gill fell first in Xavier Bartlett’s over, advancing down the pitch only to be caught at mid-off by Mitchell Marsh. In the fifth ball of the same over, Bartlett bowled a sharp nip-back delivery that trapped Virat Kohli plumb in front of the stumps.
Ball-tracking confirmed the dismissal, with three reds showing a perfect plumb. This was Kohli’s second duck of the series, he had previously been dismissed for eight in the first ODI by Mitchell Starc off a brilliant catch from Cooper Connolly. Despite the early setbacks, Rohit’s counterattack shifted momentum back to India. Australia are leading the three-match ODI series, winning the first one by seven wickets and will look to seal the series in style in front of the home crowd.
