2nd T20I: Australia beat India by 7 wickets to win series 2-0

Australia led by Aaron Finch defeated India by seven wickets to win the two-match T20I series 2-0.

Image Credits: Twitter/@BCCI

Australia registered victory by a margin of seven wickets in the final match of the two-match T20I series against India, following an excellent century by Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell smashed 113 runs off 55 deliveries in an innings comprising of seven boundaries and nine sixes, after the visitors were handed a target of 191 runs to chase. 

Virat Kohli and veteran MS Dhoni were the performers for India, scoring 72 and 40 runs respectively, as the hosts posted a total of 190 runs. Jason Behendroff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins and D Arcy Short picked a wicket apiece for Australia.    

Here are the highlights:

# Australia have won the match with seven wickets to spare, win the series 2-0! 

# Siddharth Kaul set to bowl the final over! 

# Australia need nine runs off the last over!  

# 100 for Glenn Maxwell! 

# Jasprit Bumrah set to bowl the 19th over! 

# Australia 177/3 as Kaul concedes 18 runs off the 19th over, to tilt the game in favour of the visitors! 

# Kaul set to bowl the 19th over! 

# Australia 159/3 (17 overs) as Bumrah concedes 12 runs off the 18th over!  

# Australia 147/3 (16 overs) as Maxwell smashes two consecutive sixes off Chahal's 17th over! 

# 10 runs off Pandya's final over, as Australia reach 131/3 (15 overs)

# Australia 121/3 (14 overs) with eight runs off Chahal's 14th over! 

# Five runs off the over, as Maxwell completes back to back fifties! Australia 113/3 (13 overs)

# Krunal Pandya set to bowl the 13th over! 

# Shankar has completed his spell of 4 overs conceding 38 runs, with 13 runs off the final over. Australia 108/3 (12 overs)

# Peter Handscomb is the next batsman in!

# Wicket! Short departs as he attempts to smash a slower delivery by Vijay Shankar for a big hit, but hands a simple catch to KL Rahul. Australia 95/3 (11.1 overs)

# 8 runs off the over, Australia 95/2 (11 overs)

# Krunal Pandya continues with the ball! 

# 11 runs off this over, with Pant dropping an easy catch which could have resulted in the dismissal of Rishabh Pant. India 87/2 (10 overs)

# Chahal continues at the other end! 

# 11 runs off Pandya's opening over as the Australian chase appears to gain momentum! India 76/2 (9 overs)

# Krunal Pandya into the attack! 

# 12 runs off the over as Chahal bowls an expensive opening over to make it 65/2 (8 overs)

# Yuzvendra Chahal replaces Siddharth Kaul in the attack! 

# 11 runs off the 7th over as well, as Australia reach 53/2 (7 overs)

# 11 runs off the over as Short smashes two boundaries off the over, to make it 42/2 (6 overs)

# Siddharth Kaul is set to bowl his second over! 

# 9 runs off the over as a six off the last delivery makes it 31/2 (5 overs) for Australia!

# Bumrah set to bowl the fourth over!

 # Glenn Maxwell is the new batsman in! 

# Wicket! Australian skipper Aaron Finch departs for 8 as he attempts to smash the ball over mid-wicket, but ends up slicing the ball to Shikhar Dhawan at cover. Australia 22/2 (3.6 overs)

# Just 4 runs and a wicket off the over, as Australia reach 17/1 (3 overs)

# Aaron Finch is the new man in! 

 #Wicket! Kaul strikes off the second delivery of his first over, as Stoinis misses the seaming ball bowled at a good length, which goes on to hit the stumps! Australia 13/1 (2.2 overs)

# Kaul introduced into the attack! 

# Just 4 runs off the second over as Bumrah bowls a tidy first over! Australia 13/0 (2 overs) 

# Jasprit Bumrah set to bowl from the other end! 

# 9 runs off the opening over with both the openers smashing a boundary apiece. Australia 9/0 (1 over)

# D'Arcy Short and Marcus Stoinis are set to open for Australia with Vijay Shankar handed the responsibility of bowling the opening over! 

# Australia need 191 runs to win the series 2-0! 

# India finish on 190/4 as skipper Virat Kohli smashes a six off the last delivery to make it 18 runs off the last over!  

# Dinesh Karthik is the next batsman in! 

# Wicket! Dhoni departs for 40 as he attempts a big hit off a length delivery by Pat Cummins, mistiming the ball to skipper Aaron Finch. India 174/4 (19.1 overs)

# Pat Cummins will bowl the final over! 

# 15 runs off the over as India reach 172/3 (19 overs)

# Jason Behendroff to bowl the 19th over! 

# 19 runs off the 18th over as Dhoni smashes two sixes and a boundary to make it 157/3 (18 overs)

# D'Arcy Short set to bowl the 18th over! 

# Just 3 runs off the over as Zampa completes his full quota of four overs, conceding just 23 runs! India 138/3 (17 overs)

# Adam Zampa into the attack!

# 22 runs off the over as Kohli smashes three consecutive sixes off the over. India reach 135/3 (16 overs)

# Coulter Nile set to bowl his second over! 

 #14 runs off the over, as Kohli smacks a six following a boundary by Dhoni off the second delivery. India 113/3 (15 overs)

# Jhye Richardson replaces D'Arcy Short in the attack! 

# 9 runs off the over following a boundary by MS Dhoni off the fourth delivery. India 99/3 (14 overs)

# Cummins set to bowl his second over of the innings! 

# Nine runs off the over, as Dhoni smacks a six off the third delivery to make it 90/3 (13 overs)

# D'Arcy Short who conceded just a run off the first over continues with the ball! 

# Seven runs off the over, as Kohli smashes a boundary off the second last delivery of the over! India 81/3 (12 overs)

 # Zampa continues with the ball! 

# MS Dhoni is the new batsman in!

# Wicket! Rishabh Pant departs cheaply yet again after attempting to smash a tossed up delivery over long-on, but without proper control as Richardson pulls off a fine catch. India 74/3 (10.5 overs)

# D'Arcy Short is the new bowler into the attack!

# Rishabh Pant is the new batsman in! 

# Wicket! Shikhar Dhawan departs for 14 runs off 24 deliveries after handing a tough catch to Marcus Stoinis off the second delivery, which the Australian completes effectively. India 70/2 (9.2 overs)

# Jason Behendroff back into the attack!

# Five runs off the over, with a near run out off the last delivery as Kohli lunges for a second run. India 70/1 (9 overs)

# Adam Zampa continues to bowl at the other end! 

# Just four runs off the over as India reach 65/1 after 8 overs! India 65/1 (8 overs)

# Virat Kohli is the new batsman in! 

# Wicket! KL Rahul attempts to steer the ball to deep third man but fails to generate proper connect, resulting in a catch to Jhye Richardson. India 61/1 (7.1 overs)

# Nathan Coulter-Nile is back into the attack! 

# 8 runs off the over as Rahul inches closer to consecutive half-centuries! India 61/0 (7 overs)

# Adam Zampa into the attack! 

# 14 runs off the over as Rahul smashes two consecutive sixes off same deliveries of the over yet again! India 53/0 (6 overs)

# Pat Cummins is introduced into the attack!

# 15 runs off the over as KL Rahul smashes two consecutive sixes off the fourth and fifth delivery! India 39/0 (5 overs)

# Jhye Richardson set to continue with the ball! 

# 8 runs off the over, comprising of a boundary and two wide deliveries. India 24/0 (4 overs)

# He is fit to resume the innings! 

# Dhawan is down on the ground after being hit! 

# Nathan Coulter Nile into the attack!

# 12 runs off the third over bowled by Jason Behendroff comprising of two boundaries as India reach 15/0 (3 overs)

# Just a run off the second over, with Dhawan yet to get off the mark. Quiet start for India so far. India 4/0 (2 overs)

# Jhye Richardson is set to bowl from the other end! 

# Three runs off the first over as KL Rahul gets off the mark. India 3/0 (1 over)

# Jason Behendroff set to kick off the bowling for Australia! 

#Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan have made their way down to the crease!

It's game time here in Bengaluru as the #MenInBlue look all geared up for the final T20I.

Will they level the series tonight? #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/cpFjOTFiAs — BCCI (@BCCI) February 27, 2019

# India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Krunal Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

# Rohit Sharma has been rested in favour of Shikhar Dhawan, Vijay Shankar replaces Mayank Markande in the lineup considering the pitch conditions, Siddharth Kaul replaces Umesh Yadav!

# Australia (Playing XI): D Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Finch(c), Glenn Maxwell, Peter Handscomb(w), Ashton Turner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa

# Australian captain Aaron Finch has won the toss and opted to field! 

Australia win the toss and elect to bowl first in the final T20I at Bengaluru.

How many runs will #TeamIndia put on board? #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/2oTgNmFhu2 — BCCI (@BCCI) February 27, 2019

# The toss is set to take place in a few minutes!

The focus remains firmly on the World Cup but India would also be desperate to ensure that a home series does not slip out of their grip when they take on Australia in the second and final T20 International here at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

India are 0-1 down after an inexplicably poor batting performance led to a three-wicket loss in the opener in Visakhapatnam.

Both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are likely to feature in most of the games against Australia.

India rested opener, Shikhar Dhawan, to give game time to Rahul, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands by smashing 50 off 36 balls in his comeback game.

With the series on the line, it remains to be seen if Dhawan is brought back into the side to open alongside Rohit Sharma or the team retains the opening combination which featured in Vizag.

"Anything is possible now. We want to give game time to Rahul and Pant to figure out what we need to do in the World Cup," Kohli said after the first T20. 

While Bumrah showed his class after coming back from a break, the other pacer in Umesh Yadav leaked runs and was not able to defend 14 in the final over.

India could replace Umesh with Siddharth Kaul or bring in all-rounder Vijay Shankar to beef-up the batting department.

The hosts played with a long tail in Vizag and that impacted their final total following an inexplicable batting collapse from 69 for one in the ninth over.

Pant, a strong contender for a World Cup berth, will be itching to perform after getting out cheaply on Sunday, and so will be Dinesh Karthik, who is left with just one game to make a compelling contribution before the World Cup. 

All eyes will once again also be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni the batsman who struggled to an unbeaten 29 off 37 balls as India managed 126 for seven in Vizag.

Debutant leg-spinner Mayank Markande (0/31 in four overs) did not pick up a wicket but bowled well according to Kohli. The 21-year-old might get another game.

Australia, on the other hand, will be fancying a rare series win against India in recent times, especially after losing the Test and ODI series at home against India.

Australia somehow got over the line but they know that India won't be serving the series win on a platter and will come hard at them at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Captain Aaron Finch would love to be back among the runs and the team will be expecting another blinder from Glenn Maxwell, who hit 56 off 43 deliveries in Vizag. 

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), D'Arcy Short, Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa.