Australia outplayed hosts India by 8 wickets in the second T20I to level the series at 1-1 played at Baraspara Stadium, Guwahati. David Warner won an important toss and their bowlers did a great job to bowl out India for 118. Despite losing 2 quick wickets, Moises Henriques and Travis Head helped Australia win the match with ease.
Australia captain David Warner won the toss and invited India to bat. Jason Behrendoff took 2 wickets in the very over off Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. After that Manish Pandey and opener, Shikhar Dhawan also went to leave India in big trouble at 27 for 4. At the end of first six over’s, team India were 38 for 4. Kedar Jadhav played positive strokes and added 33 runs with MS Dhoni for the 5th wicket.
Adam Zampa picked MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav in quick succession to put more pressure on Indian batting. At one stage, team India was struggling at 70 for 7, but Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav added 33 runs to help the hosts go past 100. Pandya was dismissed 25 in 23 balls. Kuldeep Yadav also scored 16 in 19 balls. India was dismissed for 118 in 20 overs.
Chasing 119 runs, Australia lost early wickets of captain David Warner and Aaron Finch. Moises Henriques was promoted at number 3. At the end of six overs, the visitors were 34 for 2. Both Henriques and Head attacked the Indian spinners not allowing them to settle. Henriques completed his half-century off 42 balls. Australia won the match by 8 wickets with 27 balls to spare.
Australia 122 for 2 in 15.3 overs ( Moises Henriques 62*, Travis Head 48*) beat India 118 in 20 overs ( Kedar Jadhav 27, Hardik Pandya 25, Jason Behrendoff 4/21) by 8 wickets.
Indian Captain Virat Kohli said: The way we batted on this pitch was not good. When team India started their innings, it was a little bit sticky. Australia also struggled in the start but when the dew came, they got away. Behrendoff bowled with great control and the ball to Rohit Sharma was a great delivery. The Australian bowlers picked wickets at regular intervals which led India to below par total.
Man of the match Jason Behrendoff said: Taking early wickets and putting pressure on Indian batting order restricting them to a modest total was a great effort. It is a pleasure to play for my country.
The series is level at 1-1 with the final match to be played at Hyderabad on 13th October.
