A fiery spell from Josh Hazlewood had India reeling at 49 for 5 in seam-friendly conditions at the MCG. Abhishek Sharma fought like a warrior with his 37-ball 68 to take his team to 125, with a little support from Harshit Rana. For India to defend the total, they needed a special spell. However, that didn’t happen, as Australia chased down the target inside 14 overs to win the game by four wickets.
After being sent in, the Indian batters failed to get accustomed to the conditions and struggled against the movement and bounce off the pitch. Hazlewood ran through India’s top order to reduce the visitors to 32 for 4. It was fast bowling of the highest order from the veteran pacer. He kept hitting Test-match lines and lengths to keep the Indian batters in check during his four-over spell.
Shubman Gill, after surviving the first over, lofted one straight to mid-off to give Hazlewood his first wicket. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma were both dismissed in the same over. Surya was squared up by Hazlewood, while Tilak tried to sweep across the line but only managed to edge the ball to keeper Josh Inglis, who was kept busy by Hazlewood, who finished with 3 for 13. India’s experiment to send Sanju Samson in at No. 3 didn’t work, as Nathan Ellis trapped him in front of the stumps for the third time in his career. It was a great tactical call by Marsh, who took Xavier Bartlett out of the attack and brought on Ellis, given his record against Samson.
India managed to score 40 in the powerplay, with 29 runs coming from the bat of Abhishek, who seemed to be playing on a different pitch. The left-hand batter adjusted his game well, moved around the crease smartly, and used the pace on the ball to find boundaries regularly, while others got stuck at the crease. To make matters worse for India, Axar Patel was run out, leaving them at 49 for 5. An unlikely saviour came in the form of Harshit at No. 7, ahead of Shivam Dube, and scored an invaluable 35. He played second fiddle to Abhishek as the duo added 56 runs for the sixth wicket.
Bartlett came back and killed the game again with a double blow, dismissing Harshit and Dube within the space of three balls. Ellis accounted for Abhishek as India were bowled out for the 13th time in a T20 International.
There was movement on offer, and India needed to do was make early inroads with the new ball. All eyes were on Jasprit Bumrah, but the Australian openers neutralised his threat and accumulated 18 runs off his first two overs. From the other end, Harshit also leaked 27 runs in his first two overs. Varun Chakaravarthy came in and broke the 51-run opening stand in his first over. By the time Marsh was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav for 46, the hosts were within touching distance of victory. Inglis and Mitchell Owen then saw their team home without any hiccups. Varun and Kuldeep bagged two wickets each, while Bumrah picked up a couple at the end, but it was too late for India.
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