India Vs Australia, 2nd T20I: Behrendorff, Henriques star in remarkable win; visitors level series

Guwahati, Oct 10: Young Jason Behrendorff first rattled the Indian top order and a scintillating half-century by Moises Henriques which helped Australia register a comprehensive eight-wicket win over India in the second T20I here on Tuesday (October 10).

Match Scorecard, Full schedule

Australia first restricted India to a paltry 118 in the stipulated 20 overs and later overhauled the target in 15.3 overs and lost just two wickets in the chase.

Henriques (62* off 46) and Travis Head (48* off 34) stitched a 109-run unbeaten stand for the third wicket and gave Australia a much-needed win to level the series 1-1.

The two teams will now head to Hyderabad for the third and deciding match on Friday. This was the first time Australia eased past India in India in five T20Is. This defeat also ended India's run of seven successive wins against Australia in T20Is.

The visitor's win with 27 balls to spare is the most by any team against India in India. Previous best was South Africa's win by 17 balls in Cuttack, 2015.

However, it was pacer Behrendorff who set the tone for the visitors with his fiery spell. Playing just his second international game, Behrendorff was the wrecker in chief of the Indian innings. He returned with his career-best figures of 4/21 from his quota of 4 overs. It was the damage he did in the power-plays that laid the foundation for Australia's remarkable win.

The left-arm quick from New South Wales grabbed the wickets of Rohit Sharma (8) and Virat Kohli (0) in the very first over and gave his team, just the kind of start they needed. In his very next over, Behrendorff removed Manish Pandey (6). The 27-year-old gave the Aussies their fourth success in Shikhar Dhawan (2).

After the losing four early wickets, the hosts couldn't recover from it. None of the Indian batsmen, barring Pandya and Jadhav up to a certain extent, could trouble the Australian bowling attack as it came all guns blazing. All the Indian batsmen failed to score runs and lost their wickets at regular intervals to give Aussies the advantage they needed.

Kedar Jadhav top-scored for India with his run-a-ball 27 while Hardik Pandya scored a 23-ball 25 before getting dismissed. Jadhav, who was batting comfortably, paid the price of attacking Adam Zampa and gifted his wicket away. The kind of shot he played wasn't required at the moment.

Same was the case with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who too threw his wicket away in an attempt to attack Zampa. Dhoni was stumped for the first time in his T20I career.

None of the Indian batsmen were allowed to free their hands as Aussies bowled with disciplined line and length. Seven of the Indian batsmen couldn't even touch the double-figure mark in their innings, such was the brilliance of the Aussies.

When it came to defending the total, pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave the right kind of start India needed by removing the openers cheaply. But Head and Henriques batted with caution and didn't throw their wickets away as runs came easily for them.

Australia skipper Warner looked pleased with the result in a must-win game as they kept themselves alive in the three-match series. The Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper hoped his team would get some support in the deciding game on Friday in Hyderabad.

While India skipper Kohli felt it was the batsmen who let the team down in the game as there wasn't a decent total on the board for the bowlers to defend. He hoped the team would come back strongly in the final match.