Aussies win second T20 to draw level

Guwahati, Oct. 10: A halfcentury from Moises Henriques and fine performances from Travis Head (48) and rookie pacer Jason Behrendorff who ran through India’s star-studded top-order by picking four wickets helped Australia to an eight-wicket victory and level the three match T20 series 1-1 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The decider will be played in Hyderabad on Friday.

India were bundled out for 118 in their first innings.

Behrendorff, playing only his second international match, ended with dream figures of four for 21 in four overs. The 27-year-old from Western Australia swung the ball both ways on a helping pitch with Rohit Sharma (8), Shikhar Dhawan (2) and Virat Kohli (0) among his high-profile scalps. It was the first international game played at the venue and the packed crowd was in for a shock after Rohit hit two crisp fours in the opening over bowled by Behrendorff.

Behrendorff showed remarkable maturity to bounce back from those two boundaries to trap Rohit plumb in front with an inswinger.

Kohli departed two balls later after getting a faint inside edge while attempting a flick and the looping ball was caught by none other than the left-arm pacer. Behrendorff then had Manish Pandey caught behind with one that swung away just enough before Dhawan fell to a spectacular running catch by opposition captain David Warner.

His spell of four overs was enough to break the backbone of Indian batting which was hardly tested in the ODI series. The figures were also Behrendorff's best in the T20 format. With India in deep trouble at 27 for four, Kedar Jadhav (27) and MS Dhoni (13) tried to get going in the middle and ended up with a 33-run stand.