India, leading the five-match series 1-0, will look to press on the advantage when it takes on Australia in the second T20I here at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday.
With a young team for the ongoing series, the Men in Blue will be quietly confident after their performance in the first match in Visakhapatnam, which had quite a few positives. Chasing a big total, the team had the game in control for most of it despite a last-over stutter when it lost three wickets in as many balls.
While the experienced Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan led the way with half-centuries, Rinku Singh’s calm and composed unbeaten 22 towards the end was equally impressive. His 40-run partnership with skipper Suryakumar for the fifth wicket helped India reach a winning position by the 18th over. The left-hander — playing his third innings in international cricket and the first against a top team like Australia — found the boundaries when the team needed them.
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An area of concern for the hosts will be the bowling attack which leaked runs and lacked discipline on a pitch that suited the batters. Pacers Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh gave the batters too much width to hit through the off-side. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi — after taking a wicket in his first over — bore the brunt of Josh Inglis’ onslaught and would want to come up with a better effort going forward. It did not help that the spinners had no assistance from the surface, which neutralised India’s advantage.
Only Mukesh Kumar excelled with the ball, nailing his yorkers and finishing with a tidy spell (0/29). The pacer gave just five runs in the 20th over, restricting the Aussies to 208, and that proved handy in the end.
Though Australia fell short, Matthew Wade’s men won’t want to read too much into the result. Inglis led the way with a brilliant ton, and star batter Steve Smith got some valuable runs under his belt following a quiet World Cup.
The team could also get a boost with Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa — who were rested in the first match — likely to be in contention for Sunday’s game.
However, like India, the visitors would also want their bowlers to sharpen their execution, having failed to defend a good total. The fast bowlers were guilty of bowling 11 out of the 12 wides. The extra deliveries meant the team fell behind on the over-rate and had to have only four fielders outside the circle as a penalty for the last two overs, allowing Rinku to find a couple of crucial boundaries.
With little to choose between the two sides, all eyes will be on the pitch. If it assists the spinners, the home team would fancy its chances of taking a 2-0 lead come Sunday night.
The teams (from):
India: Suryakumar Yadav (Capt.), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar.
Australia: Matthew Wade (Capt.), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa.
Umpires: J.R. Madanagopal, K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan; TV Umpire: Nitin Menon; Fourth Umpire: Rohan Pandit; Match Referee: Javagal Srinath.
Match starts at 7 p.m.
