TV records smashed in Australia

SYDNEY: The second ODI of the ongoing three-match series between Australia and India played on Sunday delivered record viewership ratings Down Under, according to TV numbers revealed by pay channel Fox Sports.

An audience of 5,85,000 tuned in across Foxtel platforms and Kayo to watch the second match which Australia won by 51 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground, according to Fox Sports.

The first ODI of the series, which Australia had won by 66 runs against the Men in Blue on November 27, also watched by 4,70,000 people across all platforms on Foxtel.

The ratings for Sunday's clash by the Australian cricket team was more than 2015 World Cup final against New Zealand delivered on PayTV.

"How good's the cricket. The women are the best in the world and now Australia's ODI men's team is performing better than we've seen in modern times against top-rated India and Virat Kohli - it doesn't get any better," Fox Sports executive director Steve Crawley said.

"Beginning the summer with the white ball has proven to be a hugely successful formula for Cricket Australia," he added.

Channel 7, a free-to-air, holds the rights for the four-match Test series between Australia and India while Fox Sports has the rights to broadcast the two white-ball series — three ODIs and as many T20Is.

Both channels will, however, be able to broadcast the first Test, a pink-ball affair to be played at the Adelaide Oval from December 17-21. This will be the lone Test which Kohli will play before returning to India for the birth of his first child with wife Anushka Sharma. IANS

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