Men in Blue exhibited a dominant performance to beat Australia by 44 runs in the second T20I at Greenfield Stadium on Sunday. With a comfortable win, India has taken a 2-0 lead and is just a game away from sealing the series victory. Australia, on the other hand, will need to win all three games if they are to conjure up a comeback. The third T20I match will be played on November 28, Tuesday in Guwahati. Chasing a mammoth 236, the Aussie batters failed to produce good partnerships as they kept losing wickets. Australia’s captain Matthew Wade played a cameo of 42 towards the end but that was not enough to take his side home.

Batting first, India got off to a flyer as Yashasvi Jaiswal played a fiery knock of 25-ball 53, smashing 9 fours and 2 sixes. Nathan Ellis managed to take the crucial wicket of Jaiswal in the 6th over. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan continued with the momentum and scored runs quickly. Ishan scored a blistering 52 with a strike rate of 162.50 while Gaikwad (58) played an anchoring role.

India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav chipped in with 19. But it was Rinku Singh, who played the finisher role yet again perfectly. Rinku played an explosive cameo of 9-ball 31, smacking 4 fours and 2 sixes and powering India to a massive 235/4 in 20 overs. Ellis starred with a three-wicket haul for Australia.

Australia’s chase dealt with a double blow as Ravi Bishnoi removed hard-hitters Matt Short (19) and Josh Inglis (2) in his consecutive overs. Axar Patel then dismissed the dangerous Glenn Maxwell (12) in the final powerplay over. Marcus Stoinis (45) and Tim David (37) batted beautifully to bring their side back into the game. But Indian bowlers bowled brilliantly to take wickets regularly and eventually won the game. Bishnoi and Prasidh Krishna bagged three wickets each.