Team India secured a thrilling six-wicket victory in the rain-shortened second T20I of the series against Australia. In an eight-over match played in Nagpur, the Rohit Sharma-led side successfully chased down 91 runs with four overs to spare, as the captain himself played an important unbeaten 46-run knock off just 20 deliveries. Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, finished the game in style for India, as he smashed a six and a four in the first two deliveries of the final over to take the hosts to victory.
India needed 9 runs to win off the final over of the match; however, Karthik smashed Daniel Sams for a maximum on the very first delivery as the Aussie bowler pitched the ball fuller on the leg-stump. Karthik dispatched the delivery towards fine leg to bring the equation down to 3 off 5 deliveries.
Sams made a variation in pace but kept it short, allowing ample time for the Indian batter to get on the top of the delivery and smash it towards the deep midwicket boundary for a match-winning four.
Watch Karthik's two boundaries in the final over:
{{/usCountry}}Watch Karthik's two boundaries in the final over:
{{/usCountry}}Here's how Rohit Sharma reacted after Karthik's brilliant finish to the game:
Earlier, the match was delayed due to the incessant rain in Nagpur throughout the previous day. It eventually began at 9:45 PM as an eight-over game and Axar Patel was once again the star for India, picking two wickets while conceding only 13 runs – for comparison, Australia scored at a run rate of 11.2.
Jasprit Bumrah's return came as a major boost for India as he bowled two overs in the game, and even as he conceded 23, the premier fast bowler showed his class as he bowled a pin-point yorker to dismiss captain Aaron Finch on 31.
In the Indian run-chase, meanwhile, KL Rahul scored 10 and Virat Kohli 11, while Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed on a first-ball duck. Hardik Pandya, too, was dismissed early as he scored 9 off as many balls before Dinesh Karthik's two-ball cameo helped seal the game for India.