Flashback: Only instances of India losing all wickets to pacers in India
It is not often when all the pace bowlers pick all the ten wickets of the opposition. The sight is even rarer in the subcontinent, where the pitches are known to assist the spinners more than the pacers. India have been troubled to that extent by the seamers twice in a home ODI, both of which they lost.
Let’s take a look at the two instances of India losing all their wickets to seam bowlers in an ODI at home:
Australia (2009)
The Australians toured India for a seven-match ODI series back in October-November 2009. Having taken a lead of 3-2 after five games, the visitors played out India in the sixth encounter in Guwahati. The home side batted first and got bowled out cheaply for just 170. The Aussie pacers made lives difficult for the Indian batters as they struggled against them. Doug Bollinger was the pick of the bowlers for the tourists as he delivered a solid spell of 5/35 with four maidens in ten overs. Mitchell Johnson picked up 3/39 with one maiden in nine overs while Shane Watson took 2/27 in eight overs. The visitors won the game by six wickets in 41.5 overs and won the series 4-2. Bollinger grabbed the Player of the Match award for his brilliant spell.
Australia (2023)
After losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 2-1, the Kangaroos are playing a three-match ODI series with India currently. The Men in Blue won the first encounter in Mumbai with the Aussies entered the second match with an aim to level the series. The home side batted first in Visakhapatnam and Mitchell Starc displayed his magical swing bowling. He picked up 5 wickets for 53 runs in his eight overs spell, which also included one maiden. He got rid of some crucial players like Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and KL Rahul as India got bundled out for just 117. Sean Abbott took 3/23 in his six overs spell while Nathan Ellis also snared two scalps for 13 runs in five overs. The visitors reached the target in just 11 overs to win the game by ten wickets as Starc won the Player of the Match award for his outstanding spell.
