India wins T20 series as Australia caught in spin web again
Impressive performances from the Indian spinners and top order batsmen helped India beat Australia by 27 runs in the second Twenty20 at the MCG on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series.
Brief Scores: India 184/3 in 20 overs (Rohit 60 (47), Kohli 59 (33), Dhawan 42 (32), Maxwell 1/17) beat Australia 157/8 in 20 overs (Finch 74(48), Jadeja 2/32, Bumrah 2/37, Ashwin 1/27) by 27 runs
Chasing 185, Australian captain Aaron Finch came racing out of the blocks and went after the Indian bowling taking a special liking to the good length deliveries from Nehra and Bumrah. With Finch scoring almost two runs a ball, Shaun Marsh at the other end picked up singles giving the majority of the strike to his captain. Finch also got a lifeline in the 10th over with Dhawan dropping a sitter off Ashwin at deep midwicket.
Just like in the last T20 at Adelaide, spinners brought back India into the match with Ashwin removing Marsh two balls later. Pandya, who took Marsh’s catch at long-on, removed Chris Lynn in the next over with the batsman edging a ball to Dhoni. The skipper brought on Yuvraj Singh, in what proved to be an inspired bowling change, and the left armer removed the dangerous Maxwell with Dhoni making a lightning stump behind the stumps.
Wickets continued to tumble for the Aussies as a bullet of a shot from Watson was expertly caught by Jadeja of his own bowling to claim the fourth wicket. Finch, who single-handedly took the game away from India, was next in line to return to the dressing room after running himself out to a throw from Jadeja. The captain, who was struggling with his hamstring, had scored 74 off 48 balls to leave the hosts a slim hope of levelling the series.
James Faulkner’s wicket in the 17th over, however, finished off Australia’s hopes of a win with a freak stumping off Dhoni’s pads ending the all-rounder’s stay at the crease. Needing 48 in the last three overs with three wickets in hand, the hosts were never in with a chance and finished at 157/8 to lose the match by 27 runs.
Once again, Australia’s inability to score big runs against the spinners led to their undoing as they lost five wickets for 30 runs falling from 94/0 to 124/5 in 5 overs. Spinners Jadeja, Ashwin and Yuvraj took four wickets between them conceding 66 runs in ten overs.
Earlier in the day, Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to chase for the second time in the series after failing in their first attempt at Adelaide. With Steve Smith and David Warner rested ahead of their departure to New Zealand for the Test series, the hosts made a total of six changes to their XI bringing in Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, John Hastings, Scott Boland, Andrew Tye and Nathan Lyon into the team.
The Men in Blue, on the other hand remained unchanged after registering a 37-run win in the first T20.
India started their innings slowly scoring only 12 runs off the first three overs with Watson and Hastings keeping a tight leash on the scoring rate. However, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma broke loose in the fourth over dispatching Faulkner for 17 runs and asserted their attacking intent in the next over by taking 15 off debutant Andrew Tye.
The duo kept the run rate near the nine-run mark from the fifth over and took India closer to hundred before Dhawan fell to Maxwell attempting a reverse sweep. The left-hander, who scored his highest international T20 score of 42 off 32 balls, sent the ball straight into the hands of Faulkner at point to end the opening partnership of 97 runs.
Dhawan’s wicket slowed India’s scoring rate a bit before Kohli, straight off an unbeaten ninety in the last match, took to Hastings and dispatched him for three boundaries in the 14th over. With Kohli and Rohit hitting it to all parts of the ground, the away side looked set for another big score, only to see a mix-up between the two ending Rohit’s innings for 60 off 47 balls.
India added 41 off the last four overs thanks to a 38-run partnership between Kohli and Dhoni to finish the innings at 184/3.
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