AUSTRALIA WIN, LEVEL T20 SERIES 11
Led by Behrendorff’s 4wicket haul, visitors win by 8 wickets under Warner’s captaincy
Losing is a reality in sport. And that hit India hard on Tuesday as the Virat Kohli-led side slumped to an eight-wicket loss to Australia in the second T20I here. It was Australia’s first win in a T20I against India at their home after seven consecutive losses, and Jason Behrendorff became the unlikely architect of the turnaround.
The left-arm pacer, playing his debut international series, took four for 21 to dismiss India for 118 after Australia’s stand-in skipper David Warner elected to bowl first on winning the toss.
Moises Henriques ((62* - 46b, 4x4, 4x4) and Travis Head (48* 34b, 5x4, 1x6) then shared a 100plus stand to finish the job with more than four overs left.
BEHRENDORFF SHOW
The start was ominous for India as they lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the space of three balls in the first over. Behrendorff trapped Rohit in front with an in-swinger and then caught and bowled the Indian captain for his first duck in 52 T20Is.
Both batsmen seemed to have been beaten by the pace and movement. The demolition drive from Behrendorff was far from complete as he induced an edge by Manish Pandey in the third over to reduce India to 16/3 inside three overs. The batting collapse continued as David Warner took a stunning catch off Behrendorff to send Shikhar Dhawan back to the pavilion. India were reduced to 27/4 and crowd at the new stadium went silent.
MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav tried to stem the rot with a patient stay at the crease for five-odd overs and kept the run rate at six per over. However, before India could dream big, both fell to the leg-spin of Adam Zampa. Their 33-run stand remained the highest partnership in India’s innings.
Hardik Pandya attempted to guide the tail as first Bhuvneshwar Kumar and then Kuldeep Yadav tried to play the perfect ally at the other end. They took India past 100 in the 17th over with singles and twos but the innings was jolted just when resistance started to take shape. Pandya tried to launch himself against Marcus Stoinis and was caught by substitute fielder Dan Christian. India were 102 for eight at that point. Jasprit Bumrah and Yadav added 16 more runs.
To defend such a low score, India needed early wickets. They got Warner and Aaron Finch early with the new ball.
India sniffed a chance and put pressure with an attacking field for new batsmen Travis Head and Moises Henriques.
The duo played Bhuvneshwar with caution but then went after Jasprit Bumrah. Even the spinners were not spared as both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav got hit for boundaries regularly. With a low total to chase, Head and Henriques took their sweet time to wait for the poor deliveries to launch themselves.