Virat Kohli and company took on Australia in the second T20 International match at Sydney Cricket Ground. India managed to pull off an edgy win and sealed the series 2-0.
India won the toss, and skipper Kohli elected to field. Mohammed Shami and Manish Pandey were replaced by Shardul Thakur and Shreyas Iyer. Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the ongoing series.
Whereas the hosts did not include Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in the squad as Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis and Andrew Tye were named the replacements.
Mattew Wade and Steve Smith contribute for a high total
The Aussie openers, Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short gave the hosts a great start to the innings but the youngster, T.Natarajan able to break the partnership.
Wade scored a brilliant knock of 58 off 32 balls until he was dismissed by a run-out after a comedy of errors by skipper Virat Kohli.
He had dropped the catch but ended up dismissing Wade by a run out after the Aussie batsman.
After the wicket of Aussie ace, Glenn Maxwell by Shardul Thakur, the hosts were able to put up runs as Moises Henriques and Steve Smith built up a great partnership.
Indian bowlers were expensive and might be disappointed with the bowling performance. Pacer Shardul Thakur and last match’s super substitute, Yuzvendra Chahal both bagged one piece each.
However, the young bowling sensation, T. Natarajan bagged two dismissals at the cost of 20 runs only.
After the end of 20 overs, the Aussies put up a staggering score of 195 runs on the board, giving the visitors a high run chase.
India made a slow start with the bat but the openers, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul eventually gained momentum. However, Andrew Tye broke the opening partnership and sent KL Rahul to the dressing room.
Shikhar Dhawan took the charge and scored 52 runs off 36 deliveries but was dismissed by Adam Zampa.
At one point Kohli looked dangerous with the bat having scored 40 runs but Daniel Sams made the crucial dismissal.
However, Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer won the contest for India in a nail-biting finish. They emerged victorious by 6 wickets.
Brief Scorecard:
Australia- 194/5 [ M.Wade 58(32); T. Natarajan 2/20]
India-195/4 [ S.Dhawan 52(36) ; M.Swepson 1/25]
Looking for a betting site with the best bonus for Indian customers? Discover the best ones for you!
If you like reading about MMA, make sure you check out MMAIndia.com
Also, follow India’s biggest arm wrestling tournament at ProPanja.com
ALSO READ:
Great platform for Indian women: Smriti Mandhana promotes Campus Cricket tournament for women
