India vs Australia: Jason Behrendorff’s 4/21 helps Aussies level T20I series
Jason Behrendorff picked up 4/21 as Australian cricket team snapped their seven-match Twenty20 International losing streak against Indian cricket team as they won the Barsapara match by eight wickets.
Losing is a reality in sport. And that hit India hard on Tuesday as the Virat Kohli-led side slumped to an eight-wicket loss to Australia in the second T20I here.
It was Australia’s first win in a T20I against India in their home after seven consecutive losses, and Jason Behrendorff became the unlikely architect of the turnaround.
The left-arm pacer, playing his debut international series, took four for 21 to dismiss India for 118 after Australia’s stand-in skipper David Warner elected to bowl first on winning the toss.
Moises Henriques ((62* - 46b, 4x4, 4x4) and Travis Head (48* - 34b, 5x4, 1x6) then shared a 100-plus stand to finish the job in the modest chase with more than four overs left.
Behrendorff show
The start was ominous for India as they lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in a space of three balls in the first over. And the architect of India’s batting collapse was Behrendorff. He trapped Rohit Sharma in front with an in-swinger and then caught and bowled the Indian captain for his first duck in 52 T20Is.
Both batsmen seemed to have been beaten by the pace and movement Behrendorff generated. The demolition drive from Behrendorff was far from complete as he induced an edge by Manish Pandey in the third over to reduce India to 16/3 inside three overs.
Warner’s stunning catch
The batting collapse continued as David Warner took a stunning catch off Behrendorff to send Shikhar Dhawan back to the pavilion. India were reduced to 27/4 and crowd at the new stadium went silent.
With the top-order back in the pavilion, the stage was set for MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav to make an impact. They tried to stem the rot with a patient stay at the crease for five-odd overs and kept the run rate at six per over. However, before India could dream big both fell to the leg-spin of Adam Zampa. Their 33-run stand remained the highest partnership India could manage.
Much has been said about the finishing ability of Hardik Pandya. He attempted to guide the tail and take India to a respectable total. His first few overs were filled with singles and twos as first Bhuvneshwar Kumar and then Kuldeep Yadav tried to play the perfect ally at the other end.
They took India past 100 in the 17th over but the innings was again jolted just when resistance started to take shape. Pandya tried to launch himself against Marcus Stoinis and was caught by substitute fielder Dan Christian. India were 102 for eight at that point. Jasprit Bumrah and Yadav added 16 more runs.
Bhuvi’s early burst
To defend such a low score, India needed early wickets and Kohli’s side got that from pace duo Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Bumrah took the dangerous Warner in the second over. The Australian edged a pull off a short delivery and was caught by Kohli at cover. The Indian captain was ecstatic and so was the crowd.
The decibel level hit the roof in the very next over when Aaron Finch’s shot off another short ball, this time from Bhuvneshwar, was caught by Kohli at cover.
Aggressive response
With two wickets gone at a score of 13 runs India sniffed a chance. An attacking field was set with three slips for new batsmen Travis Head and Moises Henriques.
The duo played Bhuvneshwar with caution as he mixed his deliveries well. However, first Head and then Henriques, promoted in place Glenn Maxwell, went after Jasprit Bumrah.
Even the spinners were not spared as both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav got hit for boundaries regularly. With a low total to chase, Head and Henriques took their sweet time to wait for the poor deliveries to launch themselves.
The two stayed unbeaten till the end to take Australia home.