Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel power India to 6-wicket win over Australia in 8-over game
- India chased down 91-run target to level T20I series 1-1
- Captain Rohit Sharma scored unbeaten 46 to help India beat Australia
- Wade scored an unbeaten 43 to power Australia to a challenging 90 for 5
Nagpur: India won and Nagpur cricket enthusiasts were overwhelmed after witnessing such a spectacular win.The teams played a very close match and it made fans even more excited. India rode on the heroics of captain Rohit Sharma and left-arm spinner Axar Patel to beat Australia by six wickets in a rain-marred 8-overs-per-side game in Nagpur.
Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front to help India gun down the 91-run target and beat Australia by 6 wickets in the rain-marred 8-overs-per-side game to level the three-match T20I series in Nagpur.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade struck an unbeaten 43 to lead Australia to a daunting 90 for 5 against the hosts India in the second T2I, which was marred by rain, on Friday.
Australia began with positive intent with the captain Aaron Finch playing the aggressor role. A brilliant piece of fielding from Virat Kohli got rid of last game’s half-centurion, Cameron Green, and the decision to bowl out Axar Patel early proved to be a masterstroke as he claimed the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Tim David to peg Australia back.
Aaron Finch motored along though and made a quickfire 31 before being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah with a trademark yorker. Matthew Wade continued his good form and played some exquisite strokes en route to his 43 runs as he took Australia to the 90-run mark. Axar Patel was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets in his 2 overs and conceding just 13 runs.
The toss was postponed for over three hours due to a wet outfield at VCA Stadium. The game eventually began at 9:30 p.m. local time, 2 1/2 hours after the scheduled start of play. India made two changes as a fit-again Jasprit Bumrah replaced Umesh Yadav and Rishabh Pant replaced bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Australia too made two changes, as Daniel Sams and Sean Abbott came in for Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglish.
