Jaiswal, Kishan, Rinku, Bishnoi dominate Australia for 2-0 lead

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Half-centuries from the top three and three wickets apiece for Bishnoi and Prasidh set up India’s dominant display

Ravi Bishnoi struck twice in the powerplay to dent Australia  •  Associated Press

India 235 for 4 (Gaikwad 58, Jaiswal 53, Kishan 52, Ellis 3-45) beat Australia 191 for 9 (Stoinis 45, Wade 42*, Bishnoi 3-32, Prasidh 3-41) by 44 runs

India hammered as many as 111 runs in their last seven overs – at nearly 16 runs an over – to post a mammoth total of 235, their fifth-highest in T20Is. During that phase, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma combined to clobber ten sixes and five fours, after India had managed only three sixes in the first 12 overs of their innings.

That surge in the scoring rate proved to be the difference in the end as India posted the second-highest T20I total against Australia, who fell short for a 44-run loss after Ravi Bishnoi and Prasidh Krishna broke their back with three wickets apiece.

The only time Australia threatened India was when Marcus Stoinis and Tim David belted 81 off 38 deliveries together for the fifth wicket after Australia were 58 for 4 in the eighth over. But Bishnoi had David caught for 37 off 22 in the 14th over, and when Stoinis fell to Mukesh Kumar for 45 from 25 in the next over, it was all but a formality for India.

Australia’s middle and lower order crumbled to lose 5 for 16 to hand India a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Jaiswal goes 4, 4, 4, 6, 6

That the pitch at the Greenfield International Stadium was on the slower side was evident as early as the second over of India’s innings, when Nathan Ellis’ slower deliveries had already forced mistimed shots from India’s openers. Yashasvi Jaiswal, however, ensured the powerplay ended with a tall total total of 77.

Jaiswal alone smashed 53 from 25 balls inside the first six, with nine fours and two sixes. The fun had begun when he targeted Glenn Maxwell in the third over, lofting inside-out over cover and slog-sweeping behind square for a four each. And come the fourth, Jaiswal bashed Sean Abbott for 4, 4, 4, 6, 6 off the first five balls. It started with two slashed boundaries to point, and finished with two pulls for sixes over deep square leg.

But it was the four in between which was the most delightful: Jaiswal waited for a shortish delivery just outside off, before guiding it very late and past the wicketkeeper for four. The tone was set, even as he departed with one ball in the powerplay remaining.

Kishan switches gears before death overs

After the powerplay, Kishan and Gaikwad could tick off only 47 runs in the next seven overs. Much of that control from Australia was down to birthday boy Tanveer Sangha, who gave away just 17 from his first three overs, and Adam Zampa’s second over that went for eight.

But Kishan, whose first 26 runs had consumed 22 balls, rammed another 26 from his next ten as India headed into the death overs. He first hit a six and a four off Maxwell in the 14th over, before spoiling Sangha’s day with two more sixes in the 15th. The second of those took him to a half-century, before Stoinis ended his stay on 52 off 32 balls.

Rinku repeats finishing heroics

Suryakumar’s stay lasted for just 10 balls for 19 runs, and with 14 balls left, Rinku arrived and faced nine of them. Six of those deliveries went either to or over the boundary, as he cracked an unbeaten 31 at a strike rate of 344.44. After Abbott’s first over was taken for 24 by Jaiswal, it was Rinku’s turn to pummel 4, 6, 4, 4, 6 off him in the 19th over. Three of those hits were pulled, which went for a four each to deep midwicket and deep square leg, with one of them flying for six over midwicket.

And like Jaiswal, one of those shots stood out, when Rinku reached out to a low, dipping full toss outside off while the ball was angling across, and sent that soaring over Abbott’s head for six. The bat turned in his hands, but the ball still ended miles back.

Australia’s off-track chase

Both captains expected dew to play a role in the second half of the match, and naturally, Matthew Wade had opted to bowl. But dew had set in even while India were batting, and the hosts left Australia with a required rate of nearly 12 an over. That pressure forced them to keep swinging, and despite motoring along to 31 without loss in the first two overs, they soon lost 4 for 27 by the eighth over.

One of those wickets came when a sharp, well-judged catch by Tilak sent the first T20I’s centurion Josh Inglis back for 2, with Bishnoi grabbing two wickets out of the first four. That is when Stoinis and David got together and counter-attacked, but a meltdown either side of that rapid partnership left Australia in must-win territory ahead of the third T20I.

Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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