Marnus 'at home' as Aussies reveal new-look middle order

Marnus Labuschagne has shown he can be a man for all formats after an impressive maiden ODI innings as Australia unveiled a new-look middle-order that Steve Smith thinks can take the side to the next World Cup.

Labuschagne "looked right at home" in his first ODI innings as he scored 46 from 47 balls in Rajkot as he and Steve Smith put on 96 for the third wicket in 15.4 overs.

Smith, who hit 98 – his highest ODI score in three years –said the Test star had proved he had the temperament and game to thrive in limited-overs cricket.

And despite a 36-run loss that sets up a series decider in Bengaluru on Sunday night, Smith said the promotion of Alex Carey to No.5 indicated a middle-order foundation that would take the team to the 2023 ODI World Cup that will also be played in India.

"I thought Marnus played really well in his first bat in one-day international cricket," Smith said after the match.

"He was really busy, we were going at a reasonable rate, we were going at around six an over there for a while.

"The way Marnus played in his first (innings), to have the courage to hit one over mid-off off Kuldeep (Yadav) really early on, that just shows he's got something about him.

"We know he's in terrific form, he's been batting beautifully, but transferring that into one-day cricket now is another thing.

"I thought he looked exceptionally good tonight.

"He hit the gaps hard, ran hard between the wickets and played some nice shots.

"The one off Jadeja was a beautiful shot. He looked right at home.

"And there's no reason why the three-four-five (batting order) can't stay as it is."

Image Id: 9A9BB91BE90B4652A5E3AB81769B3B55 Image Caption: Labuschagne hit four boundaries in his knock // AP

Carey's rise up the order comes after he proved his worth as a batsman in last year's World Cup. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis had batted ahead of him throughout the tournament before a change was made in Australia's semi-final defeat to England. 

Carey batted at No.4 for South Australia in the Marsh One Day Cup to start the summer, averaging 46, and has also taken a middle order role with the Adelaide Strikers to replicate his expected position with Australia in the shortest format.

He scored 18 off 17 in the second ODI after a 42-run stand with Smith, who also departed in the same over from Kuldeep after dragging a cut-shot back onto his stumps.

"The area where we lost it was losing the three wickets between the 30 and 40 overs and not having an 'in' batter there that could start the launch," Smith said.

"Had we maybe lost one wicket in that 30-40 overs and had seven wickets in hand … perhaps things may have been different.

"We timed our chase pretty well when we lose three wickets in between 30 and 40 overs, it halts the ability to be able to go and try and get ten an over.

"I would've liked to have batted a bit longer and been there in the happy hour."

Smith and Labuschagne had steadied Australia after David Warner (15) and Aaron Finch (33) – unbeaten centurions in the opening match – fell early.

But the wickets of Carey and Smith in the 38th over derailed Australia. Ashton Turner was bowled for 13 off 15 balls, and while Ashton Agar hit a run-a-ball 25, Pat Cummins (0), Mitchell Starc (6) and Adam Zampa (6) were dismissed cheaply.

Kane Richardson added 24 not out off 11 balls to underline Smith's assertion that the run-chase needed a set batsman to push on.

The loss was Australia's first of the summer and sets up a deciding match on the Qantas Tour of India in Bengaluru on Sunday night.

An Australian win would see them become the first touring team to win back-to-back ODI series in India in more than a decade.

Bengaluru promises to be another high-scoring affair.

"It feels like the ball goes further in the air, you see lots of sixes there," Smith said.

"It's quite a fast outfield, from memory, and usually a nice-paced wicket. Not too dissimilar to Rajkot. I can see another high-scoring game."

Labuschagne's two overs of leg-spin yielded boundaries on his first and last balls and six singles in between to go for 14 runs.

Zampa took three wickets – including Virat Kohli on 78 for a seventh time in international cricket – but it was tough going for the rest.

Cummins went wicketless and conceded 53 off his 10 overs but Starc had the second-worst return of his career with 0-78, while Richardson had 2-73.

Agar also finished with 0-63 from eight overs as Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan hit 96 and KL Rahul 80 in the run-scoring spree.

Australia Qantas ODI Tour of India 2020

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.

First ODI: Australia win by 10 wickets in Mumbai

Second ODI: India win by 36 runs in Rajkot

Third ODI: January 19, Bengaluru (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)