INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Win 2nd T20I by 44 runs to take 2-0 lead in seriesTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indian batting was like a high-speed train here at the Greenfield
exhilarating batting display to help their team post 235 for four, their highestever T20 score against Australia
On a night when the visiting bowlers struggled with the early onset of dew, Yashasvi Jaiswal (53 off 25), Ishan Kishan (52 off 32) and
Ruturaj Gaikwad (58 off 43) helped themselves to blazing half-centuries while Rinku Singh (31 not out off 9) produced a near-perfect end
innings cameo to virtually bat Australia out of the game
The Indian bowlers, especially the spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel, did well to prise out three Australian wickets inside the powerplay
including the dangerous Glenn Maxwell for 12
With pacer Prasidh Krishna accounting for Steve Smith with a short ball for 19, India all but closed it out
However, two big men Tim David and Marcus Stoinis produced a blistering counter-attack to send the modest crowd at Greenfield into silence
The duo smashed 81 for the fifth wicket off just 38 balls
But Bishnoi dismissed David (37, 22 balls) in his final over to dash Australian hopes of a comeback
With Stoinis (45, 25 balls) following him back in the pavilion soon after, the Aussies could only manage 191 for nine in 20 overs as India
won by 44 runs to go 2-0 up in the five-match series
The two Indian spinners, Bishnoi (3/32) and Patel (1/25) were most impressive on a difficult night for the bowlers while Prasidh (3/35 )
made a good comeback after an ordinary outing in Vizag
Put into bat, Indian openers Jaiswal and Gaikwad gave India a flying start
He hit the off-spinner for a lofted cover drive and followed it up with a lofted sweep over square-leg for boundaries to announce his
The next over was even more fruitful for India
Jaiswal cut, pulled and glided Sean Abbott for three fours and two sixes as the Aussie looked clueless
The southpaw then hit a hat-trick of fours in the final over of powerplay against Nathan Ellis to race to his fifty off just 24 balls
But Jaiswal perished in an attempt to hit a fourth boundary as he only managed an outside edge and the chance was lapped up by Zampa at
Ishan ensured that the momentum was not lost
The decision to reintroduce Maxwell in the 14th over proved costly for Australia as Ishan smashed him for two sixes and a four as the
part-time off-spinner conceded 38 off his two overs
Two sixes of the next over from Tanveer Sangha saw Ishan completing his second successive fifty but was dismissed in the next over by Marcus
Ishan smashed three sixes and four fours in his knock
Rinku then produced the final flourish to end it in style
