Australia 100 for 2 (Smith 47*, Carey 26*, Ngarava 2-16) beat Zimbabwe 96 (Williams 29, Zampa 3-21, Starc 3-24) by eight wickets
Australia raced to an eight- wicket victory in Townsville as the second ODI lasted less than 43 overs after Mitchell Starc had blown Zimbabwe’s top order away to leave him on 199 wickets, and the visitors dismantled for 96.
Aaron Finch the captain of Australia says that the bowlers were clinical. Adds that the tone was set by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood and the others were consistent as well. Mentions that they are trying to be flexible looking at the upcoming World Cup and tells they will keep experimenting further. Shares that they want to play good cricket regardless of the results.
The game was set up in the first innings itself as Australia won the toss and exploited the conditions with the ball to perfection. Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa were the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets each and Cameron Green continued his fine form grabbing two.
Zimbabwe did not put up any sort of resistance against some quality bowling and were bowled out for just 96 runs. This was an easy chase for the strong Australian batting lineup and despite an initial hiccup, Steven Smith and Alex Carey took the team home to register a comprehensive win.
Zimbabwe came out with very little hope of defending a measly total but Richard Ngarava gave them a glimmer of hope. He bowled with fire and sent both the openers back to the shed considerably early. They were however unable to build on this start and the rest of the bowlers provided no penetration.
Brad Evans could not support his pace bowling partner well and conceded runs far too freely. They did help their cause by introducing their part-time spinners as it only accelerated their demise. In the end, they conceded an excess of six runs per over, and this game was done in no time. They will need to work on their batting if they are to have any chance of competing in the last game.
Australia came out with an intent to wrap the game up at the earliest. David Warner went after the bowlers from the word go but perished in the attempt to accelerate.
Aaron Finch continued his poor form and got out playing a defensive shot but Steven Smith came to the wicket and settled any sort of nerves in the dressing room. He played his shots and looked good at the wicket ending three short of a half-century. He was well supported by Alex Carey who would have enjoyed the time he got at the wicket and will be happy that he saw this game through. This was a thoroughly professional performance on all fronts.
This has been a walk in the park for the mighty Australian side. They have sent the visitors packing in under 15 overs and completed a dominating victory. With this 8-wicket win, they have taken a 2-0 lead in this 3-match series and will be looking to whitewash their opponents in the final fixture.
Zimbabwe have just not turned up for the game and conceded this battle without a fight. They have a lot of work to do if they are to get a consolation win the next time
News Sport Online 