Kohli’s men win T20 series, beat Australia by six wickets

IND vs AUS 2nd T20 Result: Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer chased 37 runs from the final three overs as India defeated Australia by six wickets in the second T20I of the three-game series on Sunday here at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

With this victory, India gained an impregnable 2-0 lead in the three-game series. Batting first, Australia once again piled up misery on the Indian bowlers and the team posted a total of 194 due to 58 and 46 hits from Matthew Wade and Steve Smith. No Indian bowler apart from T Natarajan was able to make his mark in the match and dropping catches did not help the visitor’s cause.

India managed to stay on track throughout the chase as Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli played 52 and 40 strokes respectively. In the final overs, Hardik (42 *) and Shreyas (12 *) managed to hit big shots to take the Men in Blue over the line for six wickets and two balls to spare.

Chasing 195, India got off to a fast start when starters Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul had 56 runs in the first five overs. However, it was Andrew Tye who provided much-needed breakthrough for Australia by firing Rahul (30) in the sixth over.

Skipper Kohli then joined Dhawan in the middle and the duo ran 39 runs for the second wicket, but during the period of this partnership the running speed dropped considerably and in trying to search for a shot put, Dhawan (52) ended up losing his window to Adam Zampa in 12th. Sanju Samson played a brief 15-run hit from 10 balls, but in trying to pick up the pace, he lost his ground to Mitchell Swepson, reducing India to 120/3 in the 14th.

With India needing 46 runs from the final overs, Daniel Sams landed Kohli’s key wicket (40) in the 16th over, pushing the visitors back. In the 18 over, Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya managed to get 12 runs and as a result, the visitors needed 25 runs from the last two overs.

In the final, Pandya and Shreyas managed to get the job done and, as a result, India achieved a victory by six wickets.

Previously, Matthew Wade and Steve Smith played shots of 58 and 46 respectively to bring Australia’s total to 194/5 in the twenty assigned overs.

Sent to bat first, Australia got off to a fast start when starters Wade and D’Arcy Short made 47 runs within the first five overs. Looking for a breakthrough, Kohli introduced T Natarajan in attack, and the left arm did not disappoint by firing Short (9) in the fifth over.

Wade was looking for a big score, but a bad confusion in the middle with Steve Smith caused the left-handed hitter to be sent to the pavilion in the eighth, reducing Australia to 75/2. Glenn Maxwell then made it to the fold and joined Smith in the middle to put together a 45-run rapid fire stand for the third wicket.As soon as Australia began to gain the lead, Shardul Thakur fired Maxwell (22) in the 13th about reducing Australia to 120/3.

Smith left after playing a 46-run hit, but in the end, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams added 17 more runs to the total, pushing Australia’s score past the 190-run mark.

Short Scores: Australia 194/5 (Matthew Wade 58, Steve Smith 46, T Natarajan 2-20); India 195/4 (Shikhar Dhawan 52, Virat Kohli 40, Mitchell Swepson 1-25)

FULL Ind vs Aus 2nd T20 featured

17:31: Hardik Pandya, man of the match: It’s very simple. I like to look at the scoreboard and play to know which players to target. I have been in these situations many times and learned from my mistakes in the past. My game always revolves around the confidence that I have, it has that fine line that I lean on and I don’t get too confident. I always remember all those times when we were chasing great totals and that helps. They hit really well and we wanted to be positive and Special mention to Natarajan too. I thought I should be the man of the match, because the bowlers fought here and he played a very good game.

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17:21:

Hardik: I felt (we were) two good shots (away), quite happy. More than six wanted to finish the game. Throughout all five games, I’ve been trying to figure out which bat to hit with. This one looks good.

4:58 PM: Daniel Sams to Kohli, Caught by Wade !!