AUS vs IND | Hazlewood runs through India as Australia take series lead with four-wicket cruise

Brief score: AUS 126/6 (13.2) [Marsh 46(26), Head 28(15); Chakravarthy 2/23(4) ] defeat IND 125 (18.3) [Abhishek 68(37), Harshit 35(33); Hazlewood 3/13(4)] by four wickets

Asked to bat first, India got off to an ominous start with Shubman Gill surviving a first-ball LBW call after ball tracker showed the Josh Hazlewood inswinger going just over the stumps. A play and a miss and blow square on the helmet followed as the vice-captain only managed to get off strike on the final ball of the over with a single before eventually succumbing to the pacer in his second over for a 10-ball five. The promoted Sanju Samson followed suit next over with the pitch doing all sorts as he was pinned in front of the stumps by a Nathan Ellis nipbacker, bringing Suryakumar Yadav to the crease. However, the skipper could not survive an on-song Hazlewood either as he apprehensively nicked off an outswinger, two balls before Tilak Varma was inexplicably dismissied going for a big shot to leave India reeling at 32/4. Abhishek Sharma, meanwhile, seemed to be playing on a different surface at the other end as he got underway by slapping Xavier Bartlett for a four and six over cover before adding three boundaries off Ellis to rush to 29 off just 11 deliveries by the end of the powerplay. The opener added four more off Hazlewood who completed his quota and finished with 3/13, and had just began stitching together a stand with Axar Patel when the latter slipped and ran himself out as India found themselves under further durress at 49/5. In a surprising move, the side decided to promote Harshit Rana over Shivam Dube with the bowling all-rounder initially looking at sea in difficult conditions. However, Abhishek kept the boundaries coming at the other end, allowing Harshit to dig in and focus on rotating strike. The youngster hogged strike with dot balls but eventually caught up with a couple of boundaries as the partnership ticked past 50 with a mammoth six off Marcus Stoinis. That was all the fun he had though as Bartlett had him holed out at long-on two balls later, followed a by a streaky four first-up from Dube before edging behind to end his stay. Kuldeep Yadav could not last long either, which only prompted Abhishek to go harder with a four and six but his eventual dismissal in the penultimate over saw India collapse all-out for 125.

In response, Jasprit Bumrah delivered a resplendent first over to keep the hosts at bay and Harshit backed up the good work with seven off the second including a boundary off Travis Head's outside edge. But things quickly went awry thereafter as a Bumrah inducker beat Samson for four before the quick strayed wide down leg to concede five more in an over worth 18, before the opening duo tore into Harshit and took him for 20. Even though Varun Chakravarthy got the better of Head the very next over, the damage had already been done as Marsh also went after Kuldeep Yadav to bring up another 20-run over before holing out off the final delivery for 46 off 26. Varun added Tim David to his tally while Kuldeep got the better of Inglis after a run-a-ball 20 and by the time Bumrah struck twice in th 13th over, the hosts were left requiring just two runs. Stoinis did the honours as Australia walked past the line with four wickets and nearly seven overs still to spare.

It's over

No rain

Yup

Lowest one

Broken

He is in surplus

It's over

Too good

Lord Abhishek Sharma

Gem