Matthew Short made India pay for sloppy fielding on his BBL home at Adelaide Oval before Cooper Connolly showcased composure at the death as Australia clinched the ODI series on a day where Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had contrasting fortunes with the bat.
Chasing 265 under lights, after player of the match Adam Zampa took four wickets with the ball, Australia were in trouble at 132 for 4 before Short and Connolly steadied the ship with a half-century partnership. Short, in his 17th ODI, made a career best 74 off 78 while inexperienced allrounders Connolly and Mitchell Owen helped secure Australia's series triumph on the back of a seven-wicket victory in the first ODI.
There was a late twist with Australia losing three quick wickets, but Connolly's calmness ensured the third ODI in Sydney will be a dead rubber.
The performances of Short, Connolly and Owen will please Australia's hierarchy, looking to build depth with an eye towards the 2027 World Cup. Owen blasted 36 off 23 balls in his debut ODI innings, while Connolly finished 61 not out from 53 balls as Australia reached the target in the 47th over.
Connolly had only made 10 runs in three previous ODI innings, but has shown a knack of performing in big moments in his fledgling domestic career.
Even though they fought to the end, it's been a disappointing return for India in the 50-over format in a shaky start to Shubman Gill's ODI captaincy reign.
After being sent in under sunny skies at the Adelaide Oval, India - sticking with the same XI - could not quite get going despite teasing on several occasions with Rohit and Shreyas Iyer threatening with a 118-run third-wicket partnership.
For the first time in his legendary ODI career, Kohli has fallen for consecutive ducks but Rohit fared much better with 73 off 97 balls as he overtook Sourav Ganguly into third place on India's ODI runs list.
Australia's trio of quicks conjured movement off the surface, with swing bowler Xavier Bartlett proving an inspired selection having replaced a resting Nathan Ellis. After Josh Hazlewood bowled without reward in his opening spell, Bartlett rocked India's top order with the dismissals of Gill and Kohli in the seventh over.
Bartlett and legspinner Zampa claimed seven wickets between them, but Hazlewood again was the standout despite not taking a wicket after conceding just 29 runs from 10 overs.
After a new-ball assault in Perth warmed the hearts of Australia's hierarchy ahead of the Ashes, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc continued their strong start to the international summer with probing bowling.
Hazlewood started with two maidens in a seven-over burst and particularly troubled Rohit, but was left frustrated after two unsuccessful reviews.
There has been a lot of pressure on Rohit with his future uncertain as India start building towards the 2027 World Cup. After a scratchy 8 in Perth, Rohit was almost run out in the third over by a direct throw from Owen only to scramble back just in time.
Rohit could do little against the unrelenting accuracy of Hazlewood, who targeted a fuller length with plenty of seam movement on offer. At one stage Rohit went 17 balls without scoring a run against Hazlewood.
With runs at a premium and having had little of the strike, a flustered Gill tried to counterattack but hit Bartlett to counterpart Mitchell Marsh at mid-off. In a contrast to his Test reign, Gill has started his ODI captaincy quietly with scores of 10 and 9.
All eyes were on Kohli after his long-awaited return to international cricket ended with an eight-ball duck in Perth. He lasted just four deliveries here after being trapped plumb lbw by an inswinger from Bartlett, who later admitted on the television broadcast that he was trying to bowl an outswinger.
Before this tour, Kohli had never made a duck in 29 previous ODI innings in Australia as he walked off to warm applause on a ground that he had enjoyed plenty of success across formats.
Rohit continued to look unconvincing, crawling to 14 off 40 balls, before finally getting hold of Hazlewood and muscling him down the ground. Iyer's fluency rubbed off on him as Rohit's confidence blossomed until falling tamely to an innocuous short delivery from Starc, who was brought back in the 30th over.
Having entered the attack in the 21st over, Zampa enjoyed his return to the team after missing the opening ODI due to paternity reasons and knocked over Iyer and KL Rahul as India slumped to 174 for 5.
Axar Patel quietened those sceptical of him batting at No.5 with 44 off 41 balls to be one of India's few bright spots so far on tour.
India tried hard with the ball but were left to rue missed opportunities to dismiss Short, a fringe white-ball player trying to bed down a permanent position amid a transition of Australia's ODI batting-order.
Quicks Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj started well with the new ball, pinning down normally freewheeling openers Marsh and Travis Head, who finally smashed Australia's first boundary in the seventh over.
Such is Marsh's recent form that he has somewhat emerged as a left-field option for the Ashes, but he lost patience and tamely on 11 nicked off to Arshdeep while Head succumbed shortly later to gift Harshit Rana a wicket.
Short entered at No.3 despite a fielding mishap at slip resulting in a bloodied finger on his right hand. There was pressure on Short after he failed in Perth.
On a ground he has long dominated for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, Short was much more proactive from the get go but did receive luck after surviving a run-out chance on 14 before being dropped by Axar at point.
Axar's thumb throbbed from the stinging blow and he had to leave the field briefly as Short and Matt Renshaw built a half-century stand to get Australia on track. Renshaw has publicly spoken about his efforts to shut out external noise as he has made his way into the ODI team almost a decade since his international career started.
Like in Perth, he looked untroubled and cruised to a run a ball 30 before being clean bowled by a looping delivery from Axar. India were right back in the game when Alex Carey, replacing Josh Philippe in the XI, was knocked over by Washington Sundar, succumbing to the sweep shot that has caused him some problems in his career.
But Rana's tactics of bowling short backfired as the pressure eased amid a flurry of big hits from Owen and Connolly.
Courtesy: ESPNCricinfo
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
