W
1
2
0
2
4
= 9
Match Details
AUS vs IND 2nd Matchth Match, IND vs AUS 2020-21
IND
195-419.4
India won by 6 wickets
AUS
20.0194-5
Commentary
All
Highlights
Overs
W
6s
4s
Inn 1
Inn 2
Milestone
So thats all from the commentary box today. Till the next time, tata and babbye from me, Arya Sekhar Chakraborty and my good mates and colleagues Akshay Bhide and Sourya Chowdhury. Have a fun-filled Sunday evening. Enjoy the Indian win
Virat Kohli, India Captain: Yeah meant a great deal. We've played as a team in T20 cricket. The fact that we don't have Rohit and Bumrah, our established white ball players, in and still doing well makes me happy. Everyone has played 14 games at least, recently - so they know what their plans are. We just kept them down to a total which we thought was quite chaseable with the short boundary. It's contributions from the whole team that make you feel better because young players are taking their opportunities. The reason was Hardik coming into the team in 2016 was pure ability. He has raw talent. And now he realises that this is his time, the next 4-5 years, to be that bankable player that can win you games from anywhere. His plans are right and I'm glad to see that. We had a word before the game to ride the atmosphere, and the energy from the fans. [The scoop] there was indeed an AB shot! I told Hardik Tye wasn'texpecting it and he said he didn't either. I'll text AB tonight, see what he thinks of it.
Matthew Wade, Australia Captain: It was good fun [to be captain], a lot more fun till Hardik came out. I think we might have been a little short - not a lot, but then it doesn't matter when Hardik is in [this sort of form]. All in all we played some good cricket, we just mis-executed in some places and that was it. Was great to see Sweppo and Zamps. These guys have played a lot of T20. Unfortunately we couldn't execute in the end.
Hardik Pandya, Man of the Match: It's pretty simple. I really like to see the scorecard and play. It lets you know the kind of shots and options you have. All my matches, I've realised you always have more time than you realise in T20 matches. No matter the target - we've got 80-90-100 in the last five before, and I take confidence from that. As a unit we believe in playing positive, it gives everyone a chance as well. I thought Matarajan would have been Man of the Match, he gave us a target about 10 runs lower than it would have been.
There were a few useful hands from Maxwell and Moises Henriques but it was T Natarajan who kept the Aussies in check and bowled quite brilliantly. The Indian bowlers made a good comeback in the death overs and from a position where Australia looked in pursuit of more than 200, they managed 195 in their allotted 20 overs. In the end it didn't prove to be enough as India ended up winning the game by 6 wickets and with 3 deliveries to spare.
Earlier in the day, it was Kohli who won the toss and opted to field. Stand-in captain Matthew Wade came out to open the batting with D'Arcy Short. Wade looked in ominous touch from the outset and literally made a mockery of the Indian bowling line-up in the powerplay. He never really allowed any of the bowlers to settle in and kept smashing them all around the park. After smashing a 32 balls 58, Wade was dismissed by his own fault. Assuming that Kohli will take the catch he went halfway into the pitch and then had no time to return and was run out at the batting end.
Dhawan continued his good form from the ODI's and smashed yet another half-century but was dismissed soon after. Samson joined in Kohli and struck a four and a six before perishing in a bid to play another big shot. Kohli looked in good touch from the outset and smashed a couple of fours and sixes each en route to his knock of 40 of 24 deliveries. Kohli's dismissal made the equation a bit tough but with Hardik, the Aussies couldn't afford to relax and it proved much of the same by the end of the match. Shreyas Iyer struck an 111 metre six to open the floodgates for Hardik as he smashed a couple of fours in the penultimate over and a couple of sixes in the final over to seal the deal for India. What a win from India especially after getting hammered in the first two ODI's.
It was never going to be an easy task for the Indians to chase down 195 in their allotted 20 overs. They had to start well and that was provided by the opening duo Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul. After a couple of quiet overs, both the batsmen went hammers and tongs and raced off to 56 in 5 overs. Both batters struck some lusty blows which brought the required run-rate down. It was Andrew Tye who dismissed Rahul but Dhawan and Virat Kohlim kept going and kept the required run rate within reach.
So that's it from the 2nd T20I between Australia and India at the SCG. India keeps their unbeaten streak intact in T20I's intact and registered their 10th consecutive win in completed T20 matches. Yet again it was the heroics of Hardik Pandya which enabled the visiting team to chase down a stiff target in the end with a couple of deliveries to spare.
Sourya: Pandya's stoical demeanor is a thing to behold after getting the job done. India seem the better T20 outfit among the two for sure.
Sourya: What a finish. Six by Pandya to wrap it up. Again in the slot from the debutant, the pressure gets to him. Pandya has made this an art hasn't he?
19.4 Daniel Sams to Hardik Pandya
6 SIX!!!!! Hardik wins another game for India, again in his slot and he nails it over deep midwicket for a huge six to finish off proceedings, India wins the T20 series and takes an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3 match series.
Akshay: 6 from 3
19.3 Daniel Sams to Hardik Pandya
0 bangs this short on the body, Hardik tries to guide it over 3rd man but doesn't get any connection, a crucial dot ball as far as the hosts are concerned
Sourya: In the slot and Pandya is lethal there, clears the long on boundary with lazy elegance.
19.2 Daniel Sams to Hardik Pandya
6 SIX!!!!! back of a length and Hardik hoiks this straight over deep midwicket for a six, easy pickings for Hardik, when he strikes it goes big
Akshay: I'm feeling for Sams here. Given the responsibility to defend 14 in 6 in his debut match.
Commentary