India vs Australia, 2nd T20I: 5 Talking Points

Australia defeated, rather thumped India in the second T20 International in Guwahati by 8 wickets as they chased 119 with 27 balls to spare. Probably the visitors played their best game and sadly it has come at the back end of their tour. Nevertheless, the series has been kept alive as the decider now will be played on Friday (October 13) in Hyderabad. David Warner called correctly at the toss in the new Barsapara Stadium and opted to bowl first.

Jason Behrendorff looked in amazing touch as he scalped Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the first over itself. India could never recover from those blows as the newbie finished with the magical figures of 4/21. Australia were set a target of 119 on a surface which offered plenty to the bowlers. The hosts started well with the bowl as they sent back the openers David Warner and Aaron Finch into the dugout in the first three overs. But then Moises Henriques and Travis Head controlled the game and completed the chase with an unbeaten century stand to level the series 1-1.

Here we bring you the 5 talking points of the match:

1. Jason Behrendorff wreaks havoc in the Indian camp

The debutant in the first game, Jason Behrendorff displayed his prowess in Guwahati and left the hosts absolutely stunned. The top order which racked up runs against the same opposition in the ODIs were made to look like rookies by the left-arm pace bowler. In the first over itself, he scalped Rohit and Virat which left the crowd shocked. The procession continued as Manish Pandey nicked a pitched up delivery to Tim Paine. However, Jason didn’t stop there and snaffled Shikhar Dhawan in his next over as it took a superb catch from Warner to dismiss him to leave India reeling at 31/4.

2. Zampa foxes Dhoni in an intriguing battle

The rare failure of top order meant the middle order had to try and bail India out of trouble this time around. MS Dhoni was just doing that since coming into bat but the over from Adam Zampa changed the things for the Aussies. The battle between the two extremely intriguing as both were trying to guess each other’s mind. While Dhoni was trying to step out, Zampa was either bowling it wide or bowling short to stop him hitting a six. However, finally, off the fifth delivery of the over when the Indian stepped out, Zampa intelligently shortened his length as the bowl spun and bounced exceedingly out of the rough to stump the man who always stumps the opposition batsmen.

3. Australia lose openers early

In reply to the low score of 118 posted by India, the openers Finch and Warner strode out to the middle with the hope of scoring some quick runs before the spinners take control. But Jasprit Bumrah rushed a short of a length delivery into the latter which he tried to pull only to lob it to Virat Kohli. Soon in the next over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar shortened his length and induced Finch to push at a ball which went straight into the hands of the skipper yet again at the extra cover. Australia were reduced to 13/2 and the hosts had started to hope to pull off an amazing victory.

4. The middle order finally delivers for Aussies

The under-fire middle order of the Aussie batting line-up was exposed in the second T20I yet again and the fears of collapse while chasing small totals started doing the rounds. But Henriques and Head started slowly and then settled in nicely. The side completely looked different with things falling in place in the game. The duo played out the spin really well as the dew affected the grip of the bowlers. Both added an unbeaten 109 runs and won the game for their country and took the series into the decider in Hyderabad. Henriques was not out on 62 whereas Head played a superb knock of 48*.

5. Failure of the wrist spinning duo

After posting a below-par total of 118 on a wicket helpful for the bowlers, India were hoping for their wrist spinners to come good to put any sort of pressure on the visitors. But what transpired in the middle was the least expected. Henriques and Head attacked the chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav as he was taken for 46 runs in his quota of overs. Even Yuzvendra Chahal went for more than 8 runs and the bowling attack lost its shine after picking the early courtesy the seam bowlers. Both of them would like to shrug off this game and come back successfully in the decider now on Friday.