India vs Australia: All-round Men in Blue go 2-0 up in T20I series with 44-run victory in Thiruvananthapuram

India produced a clinical all-round display to go 2-0 up in the five-match T20I series against Australia, registering a 44-run win in the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Half-centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad (58), Yashasvi Jaiswal (53) and Ishan Kishan (52) as well as a quickfire 31 not out off just nine deliveries from Rinku Singh helped India post a massive 235/4 on the board after being invited to bat by Australia skipper Matthew Wade.

Ravi Bishnoi then led the way with figures of 3/32, and was ably supported by seamer Prasidh Krishna (3/41) as the Men in Blue restricted the Aussies to 191/9 in reply to collect their second win on the trot after their heartbreak in last Sunday’s World Cup final.

The Indians, who are being led by Suryakumar Yadav in this series in the absence of regular skipper Hardik Pandya due to injury, head to Guwahati in a couple of days’ time where they will be aiming to clinch the series with a game to spare.

Australia needed to score at 11.8 runs per over to hunt down India’s total. Openers Matthew Short and Steve Smith made an urgent beginning, procuring 31 runs in the first two overs.

But Bishnoi jettisoned Short in the third over and Josh Inglis, who made a hundred in the first match at Visakhapatnam, in the fifth over as Australia slipped to 39 for two.

It soon transpired to 58 for four after Smith fell to Prasidh and left-arm spinner Axar Patel gobbled up Glenn Maxwell, as the Indian bowlers produced a disciplined effort.

However, Australia found some fight through David and Stoinis, who pummelled the Indian attack for 81 runs for an entertaining fifth wicket stand that came in just above seven overs.

Both David and Stoinis are capable of clearing the fence at will, and the Aussie duo did exactly that.

David hammered pacer Mukesh Kumar for 19 runs in the 10th over as Australia made 104 for 4 in the 10 overs and looked good for a comeback.

But Bishnoi bagged the crucial wicket of David, who lifted him to Gaikwad at long-on.

Stoinis too did not last long as his attempted heave off Mukesh ended with Axar near the straight boundary.

From that point, an Indian victory was a mere formality.

A win by 44 runs in Trivandrum!