Thiruvananthapuram: Young stars Yashasvi Jaiswal (53), Ruturaj Gaikwad (58) and Ishan Kishan (52) scored fifties to guide India to a 44-run win over Australia at the Greenfield Stadium to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
After being put in to bat first, India’s top order scripted history by becoming the first top-three Indian trio to register fifty-plus scores in T20Is.
Suryakumar Yadav played a 10-ball 19 cameo before falling at the hands of Nathan Ellis. Rinku Singh remained unbeaten on 31 runs off just nine deliveries, smashing four boundaries and two sixes as India ended with 235 for 4 on the scoreboard in the first innings, their fifth-highest score in T20Is.
Australia openers Steve Smith and Mathew Short got their side off to a positive start, taking the attack to Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna. However, Ravi Bishnoi turned the game on its head with quick dismissals of Short and Josh Inglis.
All-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Tim David hit some big shots to offer a glimmer of hope for Australia. The two batters formed a quick-fire 81-run partnership to get Australia back in the contest.
Bishnoi claimed the wicket of David in the 14th over. David departed after scoring 37 runs off 22 balls, hitting four boundaries and two sixes.
Mukesh Kumar also joined the party and denied Stoinis a well-deserved half-century to effectively break Australia’s back in the 236-run chase.
The right-handed batter walked back after scoring a 25-ball 45, smashing two boundaries and four maximums.
Mathew Wade scored 42 but failed to take his team home.
–IANS