Well as expected, Australia bounced back strongly in the second ODI yesterday but boy did they have to graft their way to victory. After the BLACKCAPS set 282 for Australia to chase, Usman Khawaja and David Warner made batting look freakishly easy only for the kiwi bowlers to strike rapidly, leaving Mitchell Marsh and John Hastings to guide Australia to victory.

Hastings and Marsh's efforts showcased a bit of the trans-Tasman sporting ethos that we love, regardless of whether you call Aotearoa or Dingo-ville home. Two big (huge) lads who could have been playing in the NRL Nines, wielding their willow, sometimes agriculturally but most of the time very effectively. Marsh finished with a deserved 69 off 72 and Hastings narrowly missed out on a 50 with 48 off 47, both batted freely and didn't have too many problems with the kiwi bowlers, especially after Mitchell Santner bowled his 10 overs (3 for 47).

This is perhaps the kiwis biggest worry as the likes of Adam Milne, Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson struggled to impact that game, while with Trent Boult and Matt Henry they were unable to stick that damn knife in the coffin. 

It felt like the stars were aligning as Henry, Boult and Santner flipped the game on its head dismissing Khawaja, Smith, Bailey, Maxwell and Warner in just under 15 overs. Then Milne took a stunner to get Mathew Wade, surely this was it, an epic fight back was underway and now with their tails up, the kiwis would run through the lower-order?

The damage was already done by Warner and Khawaja though, they put on 122 before Khawaja fell but both scored at greater than a run-a-ball and they put Australia ahead of the curve. Marsh and Hastings still had plenty to do, however they didn't need to take any crazy risks to up the run-rate, which is possibly why the kiwis struggled to create the necessary opportunities.

Kane Williamson - also as expected after his Earth-rattling duck previously - hit 60, which was the only 50+ score of the BLACKCAPS innings. Mitchell Santner came close in the death with 45 off 39 and without Santner or Adam Milne's 36 off 27, Khawja and Warner could have only been chasing 200-250 and they would have breezed their way to that.

Once again the middle-order failed, this time they failed after making starts (Elliott faced 47 balls, Anderson 28, Ronchi 19). 'Failed' might be a harsh word as they did contribute a few runs, when the top-four don't quite do the job as was the case here though the responsibility falls on Elliott, Anderson and Ronchi to lead the way. There's a bit of a trend developping here as the innings has stalled through the middle overs in both ODIs now, not thanks to cheap wickets like Australia's two innings', just generally stalling as Elliott, Anderson and Ronchi struggle to keep things moving. 

The first ODI saw Anderson and Ronchi share mediocre strike-rates of 50 and 61.53 while Elliott trucked along at 116.66. The second ODI saw Elliott and Anderson with strike-rates of 68.08 and 57.14 while Ronchi had 100, the top score from these three in either innings' was Elliott's 32 yesterday.

We know Ronchi is in a bit of a slump, what about Anderson? This isn't anything to kick up a stink about, just keep your eye on how Anderson impacts the third ODI; in his last four ODIs (two vs Pakistan, two vs Aus) Anderson has followed up that 82* in the T20 against Pakistan with 10, 35, 10 and 16. Anderson hasn't been a bad 5th/6th bowling option as he's chipped in with a wicket in all but one of the past four ODIs so he's holding up his end of the bargain with the ball, scoring 10 and 16 at strike-rates of 50 and 57 though isn't helping the BLACKCAPS dominate the middle stages.

The decider tomorrow, shit that's snuck up on us huh? As with all good three-match series, we've seen one team get off to a great start, the other team bounce back and now we're left wondering how the final match might play out, which is far too difficult to predict. Guptill and McCullum are obvious choices as influential figures for the kiwis, but with McCullum's farewell tour winding down, I'm eager to see what our young brigade can offer in a decider against the old foe. Williamson, Nicholls, Santner, Henry, Anderson, Milne and Boult are the blokes who will take over this team and we've got to see performances from them when it matters the most. 

A deciding ODI against Australia is one heck of a stage and we're going to learn a lot about this young crew tomorrow.