India were buoyed with the win over Australia in the first T20I at Canberra. They were behind in the game but came roaring back to win the match. This set up the limited-overs leg beautifully with both India and Australia winning 2 games each. India even without the absence of Ravindra Jadeja looked a better team on paper. While Australia were without the services of their regular T20I skipper, Aaron Finch. Matthew Wade stepped in his shoes to lead the Aussie outfit. India won the toss and had no hesitancy in fielding first. Virat Kohli expected the pitch to play better in the second half of the match.
How did Australia fare in the first innings?
Australia got off to a fantastic start thanks to Matthew Wade’s blitzkrieg. They raced off to 59 runs in the first powerplay and Wade helped himself to a half-century in just 25 balls. D’ Arcy Short couldn’t get going and was dismissed by T. Natarajan for 9. The innings hit a roadblock when Wade was run-out and Steve Smith found the going to be difficult. Glenn Maxwell threatened to take the game away from the Indians but his innings was short-lived too. Australia found handy cameos from Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams which propelled them to a score of 194. India had to chase 195 to win the series.
How did India go about the chase?
India took a while before they launched into the Aussies. They were 9-0 in the first 2 overs. Then came the over of Andrew Tye. He bowled a no-ball which resulted in a free hit and KL Rahul took the full toll of it. India suddenly found their gears and went hammer and tongs at the Aussie bowling lineup. Rahul departed after a quickfire 30 and Shikhar Dhawan left the stage after piling up a 50.
Who took India over the line?
Captain Koli looked set to dominate the proceedings and in the company of Sanju Samson found their bearings. But the duo departed in quick succession, this left Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer to take matters into their hands. India needed 37 of the last 3 overs. Iyer went bang bang against Adam Zampa and scored 12 runs off that over. India could just manage 11 off the penultimate over which meant they needed 14 off the last over. Hardik Pandya slammed two sixes in 3 balls off Daniel Sams to take India to a memorable victory. Pandya remained not out on 42 off 22 balls while Iyer remained unbeaten on 12. With this India continue their unbeaten streak of 10 wins in T20I’s. They will now be looking for a clean sweep come Tuesday, 8th December.
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