The Aussies had blown the men in blue out of the ODI series after recording a second consecutive victory in the three-match series. Kohli and his fleet have ended up the campaign by conceding the defeat to the host in the second ODI match that was held on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Stadium. 

With having a flawed opening in the first match, the Indian team was pushed to hit the crease for a must-win match to stay in the series. The battle was hosted by the same stadium where the host had thrashed the visitors in the first game. As like the first match, the Aussies had won the toss on Sunday and opted for bat first. The host had opened the innings with Aaron Finch and David Warner and the opening pair had yet another time proved why they are one of the dangerous opening pairs. 

Finch and Warner gave a perfect start of what the host needed in pushing the team to finish big. The opening pair had put 142 runs for the first wicket as Warner was dismissed by the sharp target of Shreyas Iyer who hit the stumps directly. Warner got dismissed for 83 runs off 77 balls following which in-form Steve Smith has come to the crease only to punish the Indian bowlers. Smith had built a winning momentum for the Aussies in the first game by scoring unbeaten 105 runs off 66 balls and named as the player of the match. 

With the incessant form, Smith continued his dominance in the crease as he destroyed the Indian bowling line up and tactics used by Kohli in controlling the host in advancing for the big score. With Finch on the other side, Smith had smashed and balanced the game in parallel and they both put the partnership of 136 runs and Smith glittered in this game too by scoring another ton, which has become his 11th ODI century. Smith had scored 104 runs off 64 balls including 14 fours and two sixes. 

Following Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell put on a dangerous batting show with 70 and 63 runs respectively. Maxwell was a star at the second half of the batting after scoring 63 runs off 29 balls with four fours and four sixes. Finally, for the second consecutive time, Australia has put up the score of 389 with losing four wickets in 50 overs and five batsmen had crossed half-centuries including a century from Smith while the Indian bowling line up had given 8 runs in the over in an average. 

Indian side came to the crease with the marathon target and with the pressure to win the game to stay in the series. India gave a good start with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal putting on 58 runs before they both were dismissed by Josh Hazlewood and Put Cummins, respectively. Kohli then came to the crease to withstand in the race of chasing the target of 390. Kohli unleashed a decent show from the bat to build a strong partnership. However, Hazlewood had spoiled the stand by dismissing the Indian captain, who scored 89 runs off 87 balls including seven fours and two sixes. 

Young Indian guns Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya had taken the team towards the target with good batting and strike rates. The trio scored 38, 76, and 28 respectively, taking the team cross 300. However, the Indian side ended up with the flop as the men in blue had managed to put 338 runs in 50 overs by losing nine wickets by fell short of 51 runs to the target. With the splendid play, Australia had defeated India and leniently won the three-match series with two consecutive victories.

Kohli had addressed the post-match presentation ceremony following the defeat during which he said, "They have outplayed us. We were ineffective with the ball and didn't hit the areas. They have a strong batting line-up, they know the conditions and angles well. The chase felt sleep, and one or two wickets would take the required run rate up so we had to keep hitting. With the areas they bowled, they were in a position to create chances, and with those chances taken, they were on top". 

Speaking about Hardik Pandya's comeback, Kohli said, "Hardik felt okay to bowl. Initially just thought of trying for a couple of overs but he felt good and bowled a couple more. And he gave away a bit of a bowling plan with his off cutters, but credit to them, they used the dimensions well". India will be meeting the host for the third and final ODI to Canberra on December 2. Following the ODI series, India and Australia will be playing three T20 matches and four tests.