FEBRUARY 27, 2019
Brief Scorecard: Australia 194 for 3 (Maxwell 115, Short 40, Shankar 2-38) beat India 190 for 4 (Kohli 72*, Rahul 47, Dhoni 40) by seven wickets
Glenn Maxwell’s ultra-aggressive half-century put Australia on course, – Getty Images
BENGALURU, INDIA – Glenn Maxwell was “disappointed” not staying unbeaten during Australia’s victory in the first T20I, and he made sure not to repeat that in the second.
Coming in at 22 for 2, Maxwell struck his third T20I century to chase down 191 in Bengaluru, and hand Australia their first bilateral T20I series win against the hosts.
Chasing a target slightly above-par on a sticky wicket, Maxwell struck seven fours and nine sixes to top-score for Australia for the second-consecutive games. His unbeaten 55-ball 113 helped Australia cruise to victory with seven wickets in hand.
That Maxwell had the liberty to play his shots, was also down to the company that D’Arcy Short (40) gave him. At 22 for 2, Australia looked in trouble, having lost Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Finch cheaply once again, but the duo’s 73-run third-wicket stand brought Australia back.
While Short found the boundary six times, it was Maxwell who brought out the fireworks. The proceedings started in the fifth over, when he top-edged a six over Jasprit Bumrah to earn his first six, and did not spare any of India’s other bowlers either.
He paddled Vijay Shankar’s short balls over square leg, whipped Yuzvendra Chahal’s half-tracker over midwicket and crunched Krunal Pandya’s full balls through extra cover. Maxwell used his feet well too, shuffling across the stumps to keep India’s inexperienced bowling attack guessing, and reached his fifty in the 13th over, with a nudge to midwicket.
Australia still needed more than 11 per over with seven overs to go, and that’s when Maxwell brought out his bag ‘o tricks. Consecutive sixes off Chahal in the 16th over took the wind out of India’s bowling attack, and when he drilled Bumrah for two fours in the 17th, victory looked imminent.
With two overs to go, and only 14 runs to win, Maxwell jammed a yorker down to the leg side to bring up his third T20I hundred. And with that milestone ticked off, Maxwell clubbed Siddarth Kaul with a six over long off and a flat-batted boundary to extra cover to bring up Australia’s maiden T20I series win over India.
Earlier in the day, KL Rahul’s blazing 40 had set the ball rolling for India after Shikhar Dhawan failed to find his timing. At 16 for no loss after three quiet overs, Rahul took on Jhye Richardson to collect consecutive sixes in a 15-run fifth over. If Rahul’s first six wasn’t quite convincing – a top-edged maximum – the next ball he oozed quality, nonchalantly lifting a wide ball over the extra-cover boundary.
Rahul then followed it up with back-to-back sixes off Pat Cummins, first a whipped shot over midwicket followed by a pull behind square, to lift India to 53 for no loss after six. But he perished trying to ramp a shot over third man, instead finding Richardson near the boundary.
That brought in Virat Kohli, but Rahul’s dismissal earned Australia two tidy overs. Dhawan, who was looking out of sorts with just one boundary in his knock, then tried to play an inside-out drive over cover, only to find Marcus Stoinis running in from the ropes. His 24-ball 14 was the primary reason why India were only at 73 for 2 after ten overs. When Rishabh Pant fell cheaply once again, trying to clear long off, India’s projected score stood at 134.
But in came MS Dhoni, criticised in some corners for his 37-ball 29 in the first T20I. He struck his sixth ball, off wristspinner D’Arcy Short, over midwicket before shellacking a boundary apiece over the next two overs. Balls that were short and wide were slapped over the infield, while anything on his toes were deposited to cow corner.
With Dhoni finding his range, Kohli soon joined in. He began India’s late charge with a short-arm jab over Richardson in the 15th over, before creaming a hat-trick of sixes in the 16th. Nathan Coulter-Nile – Kohli’s team-mate at Royal Challengers Bangalore at this ground – found his first slower ball whipped to deep midwicket. Kohli then picked a wide ball outside off to club a six over extra cover. And the icing was the third six, which Kohli – in typical Dhoni style – muscled over long on after skipping down the track.
With three overs to go, India were still only at 138 for 3. But Australia captain Finch’s decision to bowl Short for a third over tempted Dhoni to look for boundaries. He struck three, including two sixes, to extract 19 off the third-last over, to move to 39.
By then, Kohli had already reached his half-century and he started the 19th over with a lofted six to a ball that was nearly outside the wide-line. A smoking straight drive over the umpire’s end brought Richardson’s expensive spell (0 for 45) to a close.
Cummins then broke the 49-ball century stand in the 20th over, but conceded 15 runs off his final four deliveries to finish his spell with an economy of over 13. Dinesh Karthik struck two boundaries, and Kohli finished the innings with a six, to take India to a respectable 190. In their last six overs, India added 91 runs.
In all, India’s right-handers struck 175 runs in 15 overs. Their left-handers, Dhawan and Pant, made just 15 in five, and it’s that discrepancy in scoring-rates that may have cost India a series-levelling win on the evening.
Courtesy/Source: ESPNCricnfo
