IND vs AUS T20Is | India will look to fix bowling issues, and extend the lead

India look to press advantage in 2nd T20I vs Aus. Young team confident after 1st match performance, but bowlers need to sharpen execution. Pitch could decide outcome of close contest.

India, leading the five-match series 1-0, will look to press on the advantage when it takes on Australia in the second T20I here at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday.

With a young team for the ongoing series, the Men in Blue will be quietly confident after their performance in the first match in Visakhapatnam, which had quite a few positives. Chasing a big total, the team had the game in control for most of it despite a last-over stutter when it lost three wickets in as many balls.

While the experienced Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan led the way with half-centuries, Rinku Singh’s calm and composed unbeaten 22 towards the end was equally impressive. His 40-run partnership with skipper Suryakumar for the fifth wicket helped India reach a winning position by the 18th over. The left-hander — playing his third innings in international cricket and the first against a top team like Australia — found the boundaries when the team needed them.

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An area of concern for the hosts will be the bowling attack which leaked runs and lacked discipline on a pitch that suited the batters. Pacers Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh gave the batters too much width to hit through the off-side. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi — after taking a wicket in his first over — bore the brunt of Josh Inglis’ onslaught and would want to come up with a better effort going forward. It did not help that the spinners had no assistance from the surface, which neutralised India’s advantage.

Only Mukesh Kumar excelled with the ball, nailing his yorkers and finishing with a tidy spell (0/29). The pacer gave just five runs in the 20th over, restricting the Aussies to 208, and that proved handy in the end.

Though Australia fell short, Matthew Wade’s men won’t want to read too much into the result. Inglis led the way with a brilliant ton, and star batter Steve Smith got some valuable runs under his belt following a quiet World Cup.