AUS vs IND | Far-from-clinical India do enough to thwart second-string Australia and take 2-1 series lead

Asked to bat first, Abhishek Sharma got off to an eventful start as ever when he unsuccessfully tried to charge down the first ball and hoicked at the second, only for Xavier Bartlett to let slip a sitter. Nevertheless, the Aussie quicks were extracting substantial bounce and movement with the new ball, which kept both him and his opener partner Shubman Gill under check throughout the powerplay. For a change, it was Gill who fared better with the rate, managing four boundaries compared to Abhishek's three to make the score read 49/0 at the end of six. The hosts brought on Adam Zampa as soon as the field spread and Abhishek capitalized by breaking free with a maximum down the ground but departed straight after for a 21-ball 28. India promoted Shivam Dube up the order but the batter looked scratchy throughout his stay barring a stonking six off Zampa, before having his stumps rattled by a Nathan Ellis cutter for 22 off 18. Gill, meanwhile, had been teetering along close to run-a-ball at the other end, forcing skipper Suryakumar Yadav to take matter into his own hands. The skipper struck two big maximums against Zampa in a 10-ball cameo for 20 but fell quickly after Ellis cleaned up Gill for 46, leaving India reeling at 125/4 with five overs still to go. Tilak Varma and Jitesh Varma fell in the space of four balls to further exacerbate matters, before Washington Sundar was thwarted in his tracks after a couple of boundaries. Axar Patel saved some dignity for the tourists with a four and six off the final over to take them to a competititve 167/8, of which the last six overs wwere worth 46/6.

In response, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah made the shiny new Kookaburra talk to string together a couple of good overs but the left-armer soon came under fire and was smacked for 15 by the pair of Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Short. The latter went even bolder by depositing Varun Chakravarthy into the stands when he came on in the fourth over but spin had the final laugh as Axar pinned him plumb the next over for a 19-ball 25. Nevertheless, Josh Inglis brought the powerplay off to a resounding close with two fours off Bumrah, the score reading 48/1. With the field now spread, Varun and Axar began spinning their web around the Aussies, and a 16-ball spell for 19 runs inevitably brought about collapse. Axar took first honours by striking timber against a charging Inglis, three ball before Marsh holed out to a back-of-the-hand slower ball from Dube. The all-rounder added Tim David to his tally in his next over after a nine-ball 14 and Arshdeep hammered home thier misery by conceding just one run off the 14th over and accounting for Josh Phillipe in the process. The returning Glenn Maxwell had no luck either as he lasted just three deliveries before Varun smashed into his off-stump, capping off a six-over phase where the hosts went at run-a-ball and lost five wickets. SKY tried to kill the game for good by bringing on Bumrah but Australia countered by taking him for 11, leaving themselves 54 runs to get in the final four. What the quick could not achieve Washington did, the off-spinner grabbing his first chance to bowl in the match with both hands by scalping the last remaining batter Marcus Stoinis (19 off 17) and Xavier Bartlett on successive deliveries to practically seal proceedings. The off-spinner added the cherry on top by taking the final wicket of the winnings in the penultimate over, thus confirming a 48-run triumph for the Men in Blue.

Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. The two must have three format players. 🔥🔥

— AceMaster (@Angulimal4)

has bumrah's bowling quality degraded in t20i?

— atharva (@that_atharva)

9️⃣9️⃣ T20I Wickets for Jasprit Bumrah

— JaayShaan (VaidhyaJayaShankar) (@JaayShaan)

Bumrah taking wickets of tailenders to somehow reach record of 100 wkts in T20is😂😂

— Ayush🚀 (@chaiandpoha)

Bumrah gets his first breakthrough at the last Ball of his quota

— Telugu Dugout (@rutufc)

India won the match by 48 runs and take the lead in the series 2-1.

Great bowling effort by Indian bowlers.



Washington Sundar - 3/3 in 1.2 overs.

Axar Patel - 2/20 in 4 overs

Shivam Dubey - 2/20 in 2 overs

— Anurag Singh (@Anuragthakur77)

Clinical 48-run for India 🇮🇳



They take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series



Each of their 6 bowlers picked up at least 1 wicket with Washington Sundar leading the bunch with impressive figures of 3-3

— Bugs Bunny 🐰 (@bunnyhumai)

First time in the series, Washington Sundar got to bowl and he claimed 3 wickets !! 👏👏

— Viivek R (@VRZee)

Washington Sundar proving his worth in just 8 balls where others got complete 4-4 overs

— Ayush🚀 (@chaiandpoha)

Career Best T20I Bowling figures for Washington Sundar 3/3

— JaayShaan (VaidhyaJayaShankar) (@JaayShaan)