India vs Australia, 2nd T20I: Wade fifty, Smith's 46 propel Aussies to 194/5 in Sydney; Natarajan shines again

Add as a preferred source on Google

Sydney, December 6: A whirlwind half-century from stand-in captain Matthew Wade and another fine knock of 46 from Steve Smith helped Australia post massive 194-5 against India in the second T20I at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday (December 6).

Having been invited to bat first, Wade and his opening partner D'Arcy Short gave the Aussies a bright start with an opening stand of 47. Short (9) played a second fiddle to left-handed Wade - who came out all guns blazing from the word go.

T Natarajan - who has been a find for India on this tour - once again impressed with his bowling as the left-arm seamer finished with impressive figures of 2/20 from his quota of 4 overs. At a time when the rest of the bowlers were going for runs, Natarajan bowled in the right areas and picked up the wickets of Short and Moises Henriques (26).

Wade was a little unlucky as he was dismissed run out after Virat Kohli put down a sitter at cover region but threw the ball towards the striker's end and wicket-keeper KL Rahul was quick to dislodge the bails. Wade scored 58 off 32 deliveries.

Later, Smith and Glenn Maxwell struck a fine partnership and attacked the Indian spinners (Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal) in the middle overs to ensure the run-rate was intact. Later, Henriques, Marcus Stoinis (16*) and Daniel Sams (8*) also played some good shots in the death overs to ensure the hosts had a good total on the board.

Natarajan was the only economical bowler for India as Chahal, Sundar, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur failed to make much impact with the ball. India will have to bat well to overhaul the target of 195 in 120 balls to win the match and clinch the series.

During the toss, India captain revealed the three changes in the Playing XI. Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shreyas Iyer came into the team in place of Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Manish Pandey.

While Wade is captaining Australia as Aaron Finch is excluded due to an injury. Manish Pandey had pain in his left elbow and he missed out as well. Earlier in the day, Cricket Australia confirmed that pacer Mitchell Starc has withdrawn from the Australia T20I squad on compassionate grounds and will miss the remaining two games.

Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, and Andrew Tye have also replaced Finch, Josh Hazlewood, and Starc respectively.