Travis Head slams his maiden ODI half-century against India: Stats
Australia thrashed India in the 2nd ODI in Visakhapatnam to level the three-match series 1-1. The Men in Yellow chased down a paltry 118, with openers Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh driving them home. Marsh starred with a 36-ball 66*, while Head smashed 51* off 30 balls. The latter slammed his maiden half-century against India in ODI cricket. Here are the key stats.
A balanced knock by Head
The Indian bowlers were in tatters while defending 118. Openers Head (51*) and Marsh (66*) demolished the Indian pace attack, making it a one-sided affair. While Marsh was the aggressor, Head smashed a 30-ball 51*. His knock was laced with 10 fours. As stated, Head slammed his maiden ODI fifty against India. Overall, it was his 14th half-century in the format.
Head races past 1,850 ODI runs
Head marked his debut against West Indies in 2016. He has since clobbered 1,879 across 53 matches, striking at a healthy rate of 96.65. He has slammed 14 fifties besides three hundreds. At home, Head has smacked 801 runs at 47.11 (100s: 2, 50s: 5). Meanwhile, he owns 1,078 runs at away venues, averaging 37.17 (100s: 1, 50s: 9).
How did the match pan out?
Australia's decision to field first proved to be spot-on as India were reduced to 49/5. Mitchell Starc breathed fire with the new ball, finishing with a fifer eventually. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja added 22 runs together but to no avail. Axar Patel returned unbeaten (29*). Australia touched the 100-run mark in the ninth over and finished it off soon (11 overs).
Third-highest run-rate in century opening partnerships in ODIs
Marsh and Head added an unbeaten 121*(66). Their run-rate of 11 is the third-highest in century opening partnerships in ODIs. Martin Guptill-Brendon McCullum: 105(43) - 14.65 vs England, 2015 and Guptill-Tom Latham: 118*(50) - 14.16 vs SL, 2015 occupy the top-two spots.
