8th over: Australia 57-0 (Marsh 25, Head 25) Three singles collected off Prasidh Krishna.
8th over: Australia 54-0 (Marsh 24, Head 23) Marsh drives Rana with an open face past point for four. A single to each batter follows. Marsh then trots out of his crease and bunts Rana back over his head for four. The two batters smile and glove bump at the end of the over with the fifty up. It’s all Australia at the minute.
7th over: Australia 44-0 (Marsh 15, Head 22) Prasidh Krishna replaces Siraj and his first ball is spanked into the crowd for SIX on the pull by Marsh! Do not bowl there son. A single brings Marsh on strike. Krishna is too short again and Head doesn’t miss out – pulling over midwicket for four. Thirteen in total off the over, Australia beginning to motor now.
6th over: Australia 31-0 (Marsh 7, Head 17) Travis Head looks in dangerous form, Rana is full and driven with supreme disdain through point for four. Rana goes around the wicket and spears one into the pads but it was comfortably sliding down.
5th over: Australia 26-0 (Marsh 6, Head 13) Cat and mouse between Head and Siraj. The batter punches outside off and gets four by threading the gap and the bowler responds by beating him outside off stump. Three dots follow but Head wins the over with a punch for four that whistles to the boundary.
4th over: Australia 18-0 (Marsh 6, Head 5) Rana swings one back prodigiously! Marsh leaves it alone but it decks back and bounces over the bails, beating KL Rahul behind the stumps and running away for four byes. Shot! Rana serves up a half-volley that Marsh absolutely marmalises with a cover drive to the fence.
3rd over: Australia 9-0 (Marsh 2, Head 5) A stat flashes up to say that the past nine ODIs at the SCG have been won by the team batting first. There’s decent carry and a bit of life in this wicket early doors though, Marsh gets a leg bye, Siraj then slants one past Head and the leftie has a flirt at it outside off stump. A single to midwicket brings Marsh back on strike. Well bowled! Siraj takes the edge but it flies wide of the cordon and away for a single. No boundary yet for… ah there it is – Head flicks off his pads with lovely timing to get four off the final ball.
2nd over: Australia 2-0 (Marsh 1, Head 0) Harshit Rana begins from round the wicket, he’s back of a length and darting it off the biscuit coloured surface. Head is hopping a little at the crease, a leg bye and a scampered single see Australia open their account. Marsh then plinks a drive down the ground for a single and the first run off the bat. Excellent start from India’s opening bowlers.
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Marsh 0, Head 0) Lovely start from Siraj, he gets some swing in the air and a smidge of movement off the pitch. Marsh is defending on the front foot and then plays a booming… leave. Dot follows dot. A maiden to begin with!
Righto, the indomitable Mohammed Siraj has the ball in hand. Mitch Marsh and Travis Head to open up for Australia. Let’s play!
It’s pitch black where I am in deepest Sussex (England) but I’m pleased to report it is clear and bright at the SCG. No pesky rain delays on my watch thanks very much. The players are readying, we’ll be underway in five minutes.
Crazily, that is the EIGHTEENTH lost ODI toss in a row for India. Pretty sure the probability of that happening would make your brain melt. Anyway, Shubman Gill doesn’t mind, he says he would have bowled first anyway, so there.
“It looks a good surface” say Mitch Marsh. “Sunny conditions, hopefully we bat well and put a good total on the board.”
He confirms one change for Australia. Nathan Ellis is back in for Xavier Bartlett. No rest for Starc and Hazlewood.
Shubman Gill confirms two changes for India - Kuldeep and Prasidh come in for Reddy and Arshdeep.
Australia: 1 Mitchell Marsh (c), 2 Travis Head, 3 Matthew Short, 4 Matthew Renshaw, 4 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Cooper Connolly, 7 Mitchell Owen, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
India: 1 Shubman Gill (c), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Axar Patel, 6 KL Rahul (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Hello and welcome to the third men’s one day international between Australia and India from the historic Sydney Cricket Ground. Dead rubber? Pffft.
Australia may have clinched the series with their two wicket win in Adelaide but a bout between these two sides is never dead, for the Aussies it is a chance to put a clean sweep over India for the first time in an ODI series. For India, well it’s a case of stopping that from happening, basically.
Virat Kohli has bagged two ducks in a row, giving a l’orange hue of late to his extremely gilded ODI career. With a quick turnaround between games he might not have messrs Starc and Hazlewood to contend with as a certain Test series of note is looming ever closer.
Play begins at the SCG at 2.30pm local time, an eye squintingly early 4.30am here in Blighty. I’ll be back with the news of the teams and the toss (along with a vat of extremely strong coffee in hand) very shortly.