Half-centuries from the Indian top-order led by Yashasvi Jaiswal (53, 25b, 9x4, 2x6), followed by a brilliant spell from the spinners, helped the Men in Blue beat Australia by 44 runs in the second T20I match and take a 2-0 lead here at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday.
Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad (58), and Ishan Kishan (52) laid the platform before Rinku Singh’s sensational unbeaten 31 off nine balls powered India to 235 for four after being asked to bat first.
Despite heavy dew, leggie Ravi Bishnoi (3 for 32) and left-arm spinner Axar Patel (1 for 25) applied the squeeze, taking three wickets in the PowerPlay.
Bishnoi accounted for Matthew Short and Josh Inglis in his first two overs, while Axar got the better of Glenn Maxwell to reduce the Aussies to 53 for three by the sixth over.
Marcus Stoinis (45) and Tim David (37) gave India a scare by going after the pacers Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar during their 81-run partnership off 38 balls for the fifth wicket.
Stoinis started by hitting Bishnoi for two sixes down the ground and then smashed Arshdeep all over the park, while David plundered 18 off Mukesh. But Bishnoi returned strongly to remove David, caught in the deep. In the next over, Mukesh had Stoinis caught at long-on to effectively seal the game for the home team.
Earlier, Jaiswal unleashed his willow like a sword, cutting the pacers with precision through the off-side, going after Sean Abbott. He was guilty of bowling short, and the left-hander cut the first three deliveries for boundaries through the off-side and then pulled the next two over the leg side for sixes to pocket 24 runs in the fourth over.
Jaiswal meted out similar treatment to Nathan Ellis, hitting a hat-trick of boundaries in the sixth over to reach his half-century off just 24 balls as India got 77 in the PowerPlay.
Australia pulled things back in the middle-phase, sending in a few quiet overs as Gaikwad (58, 43b, 3x4, 2x6) and Ishan Kishan (52, 32b, 3x4, 4x6) struggled with timing against Tanveer Sangha and Adam Zampa, scoring only one boundary in the five overs after the PowerPlay.
Kishan finally cut loose against Maxwell, lofting the off-spinner down the ground for a six, followed by a boundary. The 25-year-old then swept Sangha for two sixes over the leg-side, as he did in the first match, to reach his second half-century of the series in style.
Rinku continued to burnish his reputation as a finisher when he went after Abbott. He hit the pacer for 24 runs in the 19th over with three boundaries and two sixes to take the hosts past 200, which proved more than enough.
Scoreboard
India innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal c Zampa b Ellis 53 Ruturaj Gaikwad c David b Ellis 58 Ishan Kishan c Ellis b Stoinis 52 Suryakumar Yadav (c) c Stoinis b Ellis 19 Rinku Singh not out 31 Tilak Varma not out 7
Extras: (lb 2, nb 1, w 12) 15
Total: (For four wickets in 20 overs) 235
Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-164, 3-189, 4-221
Australia bowling: Marcus Stoinis 3-0-27-1, Nathan Ellis 4-0-45-3, Glenn Maxwell 2-0-38-0, Sean Abbott 3-0-56-0, Adam Zampa 4-0-33-0, Tanveer Sangha 4-0-34-0
Australia Innings: Steven Smith c Jaiswal b Prasidh 19 Matthew Short b Bishnoi 19 Josh Inglis c Varma b Bishnoi 2 Glenn Maxwell c Jaiswal b Patel 12 Marcus Stoinis c Patel b Mukesh 45 Tim David c Gaikwad b Bishnoi 37 Matthew Wade not out 42 Sean Abott b Prasidh 1 Nathan Ellis b Prasidh 1 Adam Zampa b Arshdeep 1 Tanveer Sangha not out 2
Extras: (LB-4, NB-1, W-5) 10
Total: (For nine wickets in 20 Overs) 191 Fall of Wickets: 1-35, 2-39, 3-53, 4-58, 5-139, 6-148, 7-149, 8-152, 9-155
Bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-46-1, Prasidh Krishna 4-0-41-3, Ravi Bishnoi 4-0-32-3, Axar Patel 4-0-25-1, Mukesh Kumar 4-0-43-1
