India vs Australia, 2nd T20I: Bishnoi's powerplay spell, Rinku's explosive cameo and other key takeaways

India had started the five-match T20I series against Australia by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in Visakhapatnam, helping ease the pain of their heartbreaking defeat in the ICC World Cup final, even if just a little bit.

Three days later further down south in Thiruvananthapuram, they were a lot more clinical where they were the better team both with bat and ball and dictated terms for a majority of the game to walk away deserved winners.

Photos: India defeat Australia by 44 runs in 2nd T20I

The Men in Blue thus travel North East to Guwahati for the third T20I with a 2-0 cushion and will hope to seal the series with two matches to spare. And the way they performed in Sunday’s fixture does make them the favourites to pull that off.

Before we shift our attention to the third T20I that takes place in a couple of days’ time, we take a look at some of the key takeaways from India’s 44-run victory over Australia at Greenfield Stadium:

India’s top three in good hands

That batting has traditionally been India’s strength comes mainly down to its power-packed top-order. After a blip in the series opener where Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed for a platinum duck and Yashasvi Jaiswal departed after getting off to a promising start, leaving their team in a precarious position of 22/2, each member of the Indian top three collected a half-century in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Jaiswal was explosive as usual and this time collected the Player of the Match award for his 25-ball 53 that helped his team collect 77 runs in the powerplay. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan carried on from where he left off in the first T20I, collecting a second half-century on the trot. Vice-captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, meanwhile, played the anchor’s role with his relatively sedate 58 that helped form two key partnerships worth 77 and 87 respectively.

Rinku bosses the death overs once again

Kolkata Knight Riders middle-order batter Rinku Singh is making quite the impression in the international circuit since making his debut in Ireland. Playing in the coveted blue jersey in front of a home crowd for the first time in this series, the southpaw had blasted an unbeaten 22 in just 14 deliveries to guide his team over the line in the final ball of the 209-run chase.

Two days later, he would pick up in Thiruvananthapuram from where he left off in Visakhapatnam, smashing an unbeaten 31 in just nine deliveries that played a key role in helping the Men in Blue post a massive 235/4 on the board.

Bishnoi shines in powerplay

Things weren’t quite going according to plan for India with the ball after seam-bowling duo of Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna conceded 31 runs in the first two overs, the latter conceding 20.

Enter Ravi Bishnoi, who made an instant impact by castling Matthew Short for a second time in as many matches. Short had struck three boundaries already and was starting to look dangerous when he was deceived by a googly and ended up chopping the ball onto the stumps.

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Bishnoi has got Short’s number yet again #INDvAUS #IDFCFirstBankT20ITrophy #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/pDU3ykGB8V

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) November 26, 2023

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel would build pressure from the other end by conceding just two singles in the fourth over of the innings before Bishnoi bagged an even more crucial wicket — that of the in-form Josh Inglis, who had struck a whirlwind ton at Vizag. Bishnoi’s twin-strike had not only halted Australia’s inspired charge, it ended up causing a mini-collapse as they lost two more wickets in quick succession.

Stoinis and David nearly pull off heist

Australia would fight back in the middle overs via the middle-order pair of Marcus Stoinis and Tim David, who stitched a fiery 81-run partnership for the fifth wicket for which they consumed just 38 deliveries.

David had joined Stoinis at the crease at a time when Australia were reeling at 58/4 in the eighth over and were running out of both wickets and deliveries. Stoinis gained some confidence with a well-timed pull off Krishna in the same over in which Steve Smith perished while playing a similar shot, and he would signal a shift in momentum by smashing Bishnoi for consecutive sixes in the following over. The worst hit during this attacking partnership was seamer Mukesh Kumar, who conceded 22 in his second over with David joining Stoinis in the boundary fest by collecting three fours and a six.

Bishnoi would eventually break the partnership in his final over of the evening. Mukesh removed Stoinis in the very next over and that proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Aussies, who finished well short on 191/9.

Aussies badly miss Behrendorff

Australia skipper Matthew Wade might have wondered about a couple of his decisions heading back to the team hotel after his team suffered a second loss in as many matches. First, whether his decision to bowl expecting dew to be factor later in the evening was the right call or not. Second, whether it really was wise for him to leave Jason Behrendorff out of the playing XI, especially after he had registered economical figures of 1/25 from four overs — including a maiden — that was easily the best among the Aussie bowlers on Thursday.

Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell replaced Aaron Hardie and Behrendorff, and neither of the senior players, who were part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad ended up making much of an impact in the end.