India vs Australia 2017, 2nd T20I was one of those matches that the hosts always tend to stay away from. There always comes a time, whenever the Indian squad is going through its best of forms, when they witness a humiliating loss and that too, with dependence on the top batting order being the prime reason.
While Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati was the latest venue to taste the spicy flavor of the shortest cricket format and expectations were something we never thought of before the India vs Australia 2017, 2nd T20I.
However, the home crowd of almost 39,000 people didn’t get the pomp that was promised as the hosts ended up giving their worst performance of Australia’s tour of India. All the four top-order batsmen, Rohit Sharma (8), Shikhar Dhawan (2), Virat Kohli (0) and Manish Pandey (6), ended up giving away their wickets to the baffling swing of Jason Behrendorff as the Aussie registered a tally of 4-21-4.
With the scoreboard reflecting 27/4 in the fifth over, it all came down to the trio of Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya (25) to take India’s innings to a respectable total but all they could manage was take the score past the 100-mark.
Adam Zampa (4-0-19-2) was the one of tormented the middle order after Behrendorff left the Indian side shattered and he ended up becoming the first bowler in T20 history to stump MS Dhoni (13), followed by a classic leg-before-wicket for Kedar Jadhav (27) with a brilliant googly.
By the end of first innings, India managed a 118-run total and gave Australia a target which, in every word, was almost impossible to defend.
Although Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who took advantage of the moisture on the surface and movement in the air, gave India two early breakthroughs in form of David Warner (2) and Aaron Finch (8), it was the 109-run 3rd wicket partnership between Moises Henriques (62) and Travis Head (48) that gave Australia a chance to battle for the India vs Australia 2017 T20I series title.
An 8-wicket win with 27 balls still to spare will definitely give Australia the needed boost of confidence after their humiliating 4-1 defeat in the ODIs, and this will surely make the final match at Hyderabad, an interesting series decider.
Here Are Some Important Stats From The India vs Australia 2017, 2nd T20I.
- Virat Kohli has broken the world record for playing the most number innings before recording a duck in T20Is. His maiden T20I duck came after 47 innings, while playing in his 52nd T20I.
- This was the first time in five T20Is that Australia has defeated India in India.
- India vs Australia 2017, 2nd T20I was the only second time that India lost its first four wickets in the powerplay. Interestingly, the first time it happened was also against Australia, in 2008 at Melbourne.
- Virat Kohli also became the third Indian cricketer to take more than 100 catches in T20 format after Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.
- Behrendorff’s spell of 4-0-21-4 is the best T20I figures from an Australian against India.
- This was the only fifth instance when MS Dhoni went back to the pavilion after being stumped in international cricket. Also, it was the first time that the former Indian skipper got stumped in a T20I.
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- This was the seventh time when the whole Indian batting order got bowled out in a T20I innings. They have lost on all six occasions as well.
- India vs Australia 2017, 2nd T20I marked the end of India’s run of seven successive T20I victories against Australia.