Suryakumar Yadav plays a ‘captain’s knock’; India clinch a dramatic two-wicket win against Australia

Surya’s 80 (42) powered India’s second innings and enabled the Men in Blue to clinch their highest ever run chase in the shortest format of the game.

A dramatic last over with India losing three consecutive wickets surely had the fans with their doubts. Axar Patel’s dismissal was followed by Ravi Bishnoi’s run-out the next ball. India required two from two balls, but Rinku Singh produced a leg-side blow with a back of the length delivery and kept his calm.

Adding more drama, Arshdeep Singh was out while trying to make a second run, leaving India down eight with one ball remaining to win. As composed as ever, Rinku Singh struck a six off the last ball to give India a thrilling victory. In the end, the six didn’t matter because the last delivery proved to be a no-ball, and India won.

With the ball, Australia’s Jason Behrendorff proved to be quite economical. Picking an important wicket of the skipper himself, the pacer bowled at an economy of 6.25.

Tanveer Sangha, broke the partnership between Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav and sent the Indian wicketkeeper to the pavilion at 58 (39). Australia’s Josh Inglis in the first innings scored a thumping 110 (50) and built a crucial partnership with Steven Smith. Towards the end, Tim David’s cameo of 19 runs helped the Ozs go past 200-run mark. Worth mentioning would be Mukesh Kumar’s last over where he conceded just 5 runs, indeed an underrated moment of the big clash.

This game also underlines the fact that in men’s T20I matches, India had never chased a greater target to win. The record was set in Hyderabad in 2019 when India managed to chase down 208 with more than an over remaining, courtesy Virat Kohli’s undefeated 94.

Highest run-chases for India in men’s T20Is

The player of the match was awarded to Suryakumar Yadav for his scintillating knock. Meanwhile, India have registered a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.