Australia Crush India for Easy T20 Win in Melbourne

Second T20 international, Melbourne

India 125 all out (18.4 overs): Abhishek 68 (37); Hazlewood 3-13

Australia 126-6 (13.2 overs): Marsh 46 (26), Chakravarthy 2-23

Australia won by four wickets

Scorecard

Australia raced to a four-wicket victory against India inside 14 overs to go 1-0 up in the T20 series.

Put into bat in Melbourne, only Abhishek Sharma (who scored a blistering 68 off 37 balls) and Harshit Rana (35) reached double figures, and India were bowled out for 125 in the 19th over.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood (3 for 13) inflicted early damage on the hosts, dismissing Shubman Gill, visiting captain Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma to reduce India to 32 for 4 inside the powerplay. 

Openers Abhishek and Rana added 56 runs for the sixth wicket to give the team hope, but Xavier Bartlett (2 for 39) ended the partnership by having Rana caught at long-on.

 Abhishek fell as the ninth wicket, trapped LBW by Nathan Ellis (2 for 21), and Jasprit Bumrah was run out the very next ball, ending India's innings prematurely.

 Australian captain Mitchell Marsh led the top-order in the innings, scoring 46 off 26 balls and sharing a 51-run opening partnership with Travis Head (28). 

Until he was caught by Abhishek off Kuldeep Yadav, the home team was cruising towards the target, and although the middle order fell cheaply, they still won the match with 40 balls to spare. 

Australia leads the five-match series 1-0 after the first match in Canberra on Wednesday was abandoned due to rain, while the third match will be played in Hobart on Sunday.