Rohit and Axar win India an eight-over thriller to level the series 1-1

Axar Patel’s 2 for 13 off his two overs and Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 46 off 20 balls helped India win the second T20I match in Nagpur on Friday, which was reduced to an eight-over contest due to the wet outfield. India has now tied the series at 1-1, with the series decider set for Sunday in Hyderabad.
 
The start of the match was delayed by two and a half hours as there was a wet patch near the boundary in the outfield due to Thursday’s rain. When the two umpires, Nitin Menon and KN Ananthapadmanabhan, were convinced to start the match, they said, “although the conditions are not perfect, they are safe to play”.
 
India won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first so that they could get an advantage of knowing what to chase in a short eight-overs game per side. India made two changes in the XI: Jasprit Bumrah was back in place of Umesh Yadav and Rishabh Pant replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India went with just five bowling options due to an eight-over game and played an extra batter to increase the depth of their batting. Daniel Sams replaced the injured Nathan Ellis and Sean Abbott was brought in place of Josh Inglis.
 
Captain Aaron Finch showed his intentions clear when he scooped a ball over the keeper’s head for four off a good length ball from Hardik Pandya in the very first over. Cameron Green was run out by a quick throw from Virat Kohli when Green tried to steal a quick single in the second over from Axar Patel. Just two balls later, Glen Maxwell was bowled by an arm ball from Axar when Maxwell tried to make room for himself and slog the ball over long-on. 
 
In the fourth over, Tim David was the man who got bowled by another accurate incoming arm ball from Axar Patel. Axar finished his spell with 2 for 13 from his 2 overs and gave India a good start with the ball. 
 
However, Finch managed to hit 31 runs off 15 balls with 4 fours and 1 six before Jasprit Bumrah, who was returning after an injury, got him out bowled with a toe-crushing yorker. Finch applauded Bumrah for his fast-paced yorker, which is a rare gesture from a batter after getting out. 
 
Matthew Wade started a bit cautiously in the start, but he changed his gears when he scored 2 fours off Harshal Patel in the 6th over. However, it was the last over which went for 19 runs from Harshal which gave the momentum to Australia, as Wade scored 3 sixes in that final over to get Australia to reach 90 runs before Smith got run-out off the final ball. Australia ended with 90/5 from 8 overs as Matthew Wade scored an unbeaten 43 off 20 balls with four 4’s and three 6s.
 
India needed 91 runs from eight overs, which was a challenging task for the Indian batters. Rohit and KL Rahul started aggressively from the word go, as Rohit scored 2 sixes in the first over off Josh Hazlewood with a slog over deep midwicket and a pull over deep square. India were 20/0 at the end of the first over, thanks to KL Rahul’s unique flick for a six.
 
Rohit didn’t stop here as this time he hooked Pat Cummins over deep fine leg for a six off a short ball, which is Rohit’s bread and butter. India ended the 2 overs powerplay at 30/0 with 61 runs remaining from 6 overs.
 
Adam Zampa changed the tides for Australia as he first took KL Rahul, who missed the line completely when he tried to play a slog sweep over deep mid-wicket. One over later, in his second over, Zampa took 2 wickets off 2 balls by first getting Kohli bowled with a good length ball which skidded and went straight through his gate to hit the leg stump when Kohli stepped out of the crease to get to the pitch of the ball. Suryakumar Yadav was plumb in front on the next ball as he got out LBW while playing a premeditated sweep shot to Zampa off an almost half-volley. 
 
However, On the other end, Rohit found back-to-back fours off Sean Abbott to keep the required rate under control. Hardik Pandya got out to Cummins at a crucial moment in the 7th over when India needed 14 off 7 balls and it seemed as if the match is going to take another twist. Rohit ensured India need just 9 runs from the final over as he played an elegant cut stroke behind point on the last ball of the 7th over.
 
In the last over, Dinesh Karthik slogged Daniel Sams for a six over deep fine leg off a slower ball and then pulled a slower short ball between deep square leg and deep mid-wicket to finish the match in style as India won the match by 6 wickets with 4 balls to spare. 
 
In the post-match presentation, Finch said, “You probably plan for 5 over games and add a little bit on to it. When you are doing all your planning for World Cups, you always have them in the back of your mind. We just got out-executed a little bit towards the back end. Rohit was brilliant. And the two overs Axar bowled were probably the difference in the game. Wade is such a calm customer at the back end of the innings. He did a wonderful job for us. We got close.”
 
Captain Rohit Sharma was awarded the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 46 off 20 balls. Speaking in the post-match presentation, Rohit said, “I was quite surprised as well. I didn’t expect it to go quite as well as that. For the last 8–9 months I have been playing like that, so it didn’t change much. But you can’t plan too much when you are playing a game like that. You just have to play the situation and use conditions to your advantage. I felt when we were bowling the bowlers had something to bowl to. We used the conditions pretty well. But then at the back end dew started coming in. That is where we want guys to learn how tough it is. It was good to see Bumrah on the park. Slowly and steadily he is coming back into his rhythm. As a team we are not going to analyse it too much. Axar has fitted in the role well. He can bowl in any phase of the game. He brings a lot to the game.”
 
The series is now levelled at 1-1. Both teams have now won each game, and both of them have looked fairly competitive. It will be an exciting contest in the third T20I, a series decider on Sunday in Hyderabad.