A great performance by Indian spinners and special knock by Indian captain Virat Kohli helps the Men Blue defeat Australia to level the series at 1-1 played at Sydney Cricket Ground, SCG just finished a few moments ago. After winning the toss, despite losing quick wickets in middle overs, they posted a competitive total and special knock by Kohli helped India chase down the target.
Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first. Aaron Finch and Darcy Short started brilliantly well in first six overs putting pressure on Indian bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, both openers scored 49 runs. After the power play overs, Australian openers continued to score at the good pace. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Australian captain Aaron Finch for 28 runs, ending a 68 runs stand for the opening wicket.
Krunal Pandya dismissed Darcy Short and Ben McDermott in quick succession to leave Australia under pressure. Pandya then got the wicket of Maxwell for 13 runs. Despite losing wickets, the Australian batsmen kept going for shots. Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter Nile added 33 unbeaten runs for the 7th wicket. Australia posted 164 for 6 in 20 overs. For India, Krunal Pandya took 4 for 36 and Kuldeep Yadav 1 for 19.
Chasing 165 runs to win, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got the team off to a flying start smashing Australian bowlers. Before the power play overs ended, Dhawan was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for 41 off 22 balls. At end of 6 overs, India scored 67 for 1. In the next over, Adam Zampa got the wicket of Rohit Sharma for 23.
KL Rahul and Indian captain Virat Kohli steadied the ship with 41 runs stand for the 3rd wicket. KL Rahul went for 14 runs and in the first ball of next over, Pant got out for 0. The Indian captain Virat Kohli showed his class taking singles and hitting bad balls away for boundaries. Dinesh Karthik also provided the right support. Kohli reached his half-century off 34 balls and remained not out on 61. Both Kohli and Dinesh Karthik added 60 unbeaten runs in 6.3 overs. India won the match by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare.
India 168 for 4 in 19.4 overs ( Virat Kohli 61*, Shikhar Dhawan 41, Adam Zampa 1/22, Glenn Maxwell 1/25) beat
Australia 164 for 6 in 20 overs (Darcy Short 33, Aaron Finch 28, Carey 27, Stoinis 25*, Krunal Pandya 3/36, Kuldeep Yadav 1/19) by 6 wickets.
Australian captain Aaron Finch said: Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma batted extremely well in the power play overs. We lost wickets in the middle overs which did not help our cause. Zampa and Maxwell bowled brilliantly. Did well but need to work more.
Indian captain Virat Kohli said: It was an exceptional batting performance by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the first six overs. Dinesh Karthik showed great composure and helped me to put partnership which helped us to cross the line.
Man of the match Krunal Pandya said: Feels happy to be on the winning side. After a disappointing first game, I had to back my game and gave the team breakthroughs in today’s to help India win the match and level the series.
Man of the series Shikhar Dhawan said: Brilliant innings in Brisbane and Sydney. Great to see such support on Australian soil. I enjoy entertaining the people and also love to play entertaining cricket. Happy to level the series and also end on a winning note.