Another unbeaten fifty from Virat Kohli helped India take an unassailable 2-0 lead over Australia after they won the second T20I by 27 runs in Melbourne. After being asked to bat, India posted 184 thanks to fifties from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
In response, Australia were cruising towards the target after 9 overs, but the fall of Shaun Marsh prompted a collapse, which saw them lose their next seven wickets for 63 runs.
India’s spinners once again turned on the style as they picked up 5 of the eight Australian wickets as they bamboozled the Australian batsman, aided by some wonderful glovework by MS Dhoni and catching by Ravindra Jadeja.
I love coming to Australia: Virat Kohli
Man of the Match for the second game in a row, Virat Kohli admitted he loves coming to Australia.
“I love coming to Australia,” he said. "There is good pace, there is good bounce, I love the challenge, and we get good Indian crowds as well. Nothing different from back home I am very happy I could contribute at an important time. We sealed the series today.
“Shikhar took a bit of time getting into the one-day series, but he is showing how dangerous he is. And Rohit, once he gets going, there is no better sight. The way they went after the bowling it can demoralise sides.”
Indian skipper, MS Dhoni after his side clinched the series, described the feeling as “fantastic”.
"The support was very good. It has always been very good even when we are not playing well. That Jadeja catch was fantastic. That was a crucial part of the game. No wonder commentators keep saying catches win matches.
“Spinners did a great job, also, Hardik's over with that wicket was good. Bumrah has done well at death bowling. He has bowled yorkers. It is your choice if you want to bowl back of a length if the pitch is good, but if you are not bowling yorkers because you can't bowl them, you will go for runs.”
We lost our way: Shane Watson
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson said: “It was a big target. We made a good start but lost our way. Their spinners are very very skilled. Even when it is not turning they are effective. They play a lot of T20 cricket.
“Aaron Finch has hurt his hamstring, the run-out made it worse. He is getting it assessed. Sunday is very important. At the moment, we are testing out a few players, which makes it challenging, but it is also an opportunity for guys to put their hand up.”
Cricket fraternity took to Twitter after India’s series win and expressed their emotions on the same:
Legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar:
Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan:
Harsha Bhogle on Australia's spin woes:
MS Dhoni's glove work was the talk of the town after he broke a world record.
Sanjay Manjrekar:
Aakash Chopra:
Ireland all-rounder Kevin O’Brien:
Jatin Sapru:
Ravindra Jadeja's return catch to Shane Watson was a thing of beauty.
Harsha Bhogle:
Aakash Chopra was a busy man on Twitter:
Former Sri Lankan batsman Russel Arnold:
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