India beat Australia by 27 runs in Second T20I, seal series

Melbourne, Jan 29: India pocketed the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket series against Australia after winning the second match by 27 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Friday.

Asked to bat first, India posted a strong 184 for three, thanks to Rohit Sharma (60 in 47 deliveries), Shikhar Dhawan (42 in 32) and Virat Kohli (59 not out in 33).

In reply, Australia managed 157 for seven in 20 overs, falling short by 27 runs. Aaron Finch scored 74 but the captain ran out of support from the other end as visiting spinners Ravindra Jadeja (2-32), Ravichandran Ashwin (1-27) and Yuvraj Singh (1-7) shone bright.

The inconsequential third T20I is to be played on Sunday in Sydney.

The following is the scoreboard of the the second Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Friday:

India
Rohit Sharma run out (Maxwell/Wade) 60
Shikhar Dhawan c Lynn b Maxwell 42
Virat Kohli not out 59
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Watson b Tye 14
Suresh Raina not out 0
Extras (lb 7, w 1, nb 1) 9

Total (3 wickets; 20 overs) 184

Fall of wickets: 1-97 (Dhawan, 10.6 overs), 2-143 (Sharma, 15.6), 3-181 (Dhoni, 19.4).

Bowling
Shane Watson 3-0-17-0
John Hastings 3-0-35-0
Scott Boland 4-0-30-0
James Faulkner 3-0-35-0
Andrew Tye 4-0-28-1
Nathan Lyon 1-0-15-0
Glenn Maxwell 2-0-17-1

Australia

Aaron Finch run out 74
Shaun Marsh c Pandya b Ashwin 23
Chris Lynn c Dhoni b Pandya 2
Glenn Maxwell st Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 1
Shane Watson c and b Jadeja 15
Matthew Wade not out 16
James Faulkner st Dhoni b Jadeja 10
John Hastings b Bumrah 4
Andrew Tye b Bumrah 4
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 5) 8

Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) 157

Fall of wickets: 1-94 (Marsh, 9.5 overs), 2-99 (Lynn, 10.5), 3-101 (Maxwell, 11.4), 4-121 (Watson, 14.2), 5-124 (Finch, 15.2), 6-137 (Faulkner, 16.6), 7-152 (Hastings, 19.2), 8-157 (Tye, 19.6)

Bowling
Asish Nehra 4-0-34-0
Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-37-2
Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-32-2
Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-27 -1
Hardik Pandya 2-0-17-1
Yuvraj Singh 2-0-7-1

Match Details
Toss: Australia, who chose to field
T20I debuts: Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon and Andrew Tye (Australia)
Umpires: Simon Fry and Paul Wilson (both Australia)
TV umpire: John Ward (Australia)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)
Reserve umpire: Sam Nogajski
(IANS)