Indian cricket team recorded an easy 44-run win over Australia in the second T20I match in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, November 26. The top order shone to help India score their biggest T20I total of 235 runs against Australia and then the bowlers produced a brilliant performance to restrict Australia to just 191 runs.
Australian captain Matthew Wade won the toss and invited India to bat first at Greenfield International Stadium. In-form Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell came in the playing eleven for Australia while the hosts remained unchanged.
After failing to make an impact in the series opener, Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad produced a flying start with the former smashing a fifty inside powerplay overs, Yashasvi Jaiswal dominated the powerplay overs by smashing 53 runs off just 25 balls before getting dismissed by Nathan Ellis in the sixth over.
Gaikwad played the anchor’s role with Ishan Kishan taking charge in the middle overs. Ishan and Ruturaj added 87 runs for the second wicket with both layers recording individual fifties. Australia tried to make a comeback in the death over with successive wickets but once again Rinku Singh played the finisher’s role brilliantly.
Rinku smashed 31* runs off just nine balls as he and Tilak Varma added 45 runs in the last two overs. Pacer Nathan Ellis took three wickets for 45 while Marcus Stoinis picked one for 27 for Australia.
Chasing the biggest total against India, Australian openers also provided a quick start. Matthew Short and Steve Smith put in 35 runs in the first three overs but Indian bowlers, especially spinners dominated the powerplay overs. Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Short in the third over and last game’s centurion Josh Inglis in his next over to give India early control of the match.
Returning Glenn Maxwell smashed two boundaries but lost his wicket to Axar Patel under pressure of a huge chase. However, Australia managed to fight back through big hitters Tim David and Marcus Stoinis providing 81 runs in just 37 balls for the fifth wicket. But once again Indian bowlers pulled off impressive spells to stumble Australia from 139/4 to 191/9 in 20 overs.
Prasidh Krishna and Ravi Bishnoi emerged as the best bowlers with three wickets each for India. Stoinis top-scored with 45 runs off 25 balls while Tim David added quick 37 runs. India took a dominating 2-0 lead in this series and next take on Australia in the third T20I game at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on November 28.
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna
Australia Playing XI: Steven Smith, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (c & wk), Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha