Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 46 from 20 balls helped India seal a six-wicket victory over visitors Australia in the second T20, which was reduced to eight overs a side on Friday.
Home skipper Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in Nagpur and was helped by key cameos from Dinesh Karthik, unbeaten with two balls 10, and Virat Kohli (11) as India hit 92-4 with four balls remaining in response to Australia’s 90. -5.
Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa took 3-16 in his impressive spell of two when most other players looked ineffective against the in-form Sharma.
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Pacer Pat Cummins was the only other wicket-taker for the visitors and finished with 1-23.
Matthew Wade’s unbeaten 43 from 20 balls powered Australia to a formidable 90-5 after a wet pitch in the rain-hit city delayed the start and shortened the match.
It was Wade’s second straight impressive inning in the series.
On Tuesday, Australia’s wicketkeeper hit a 21-ball 45 in the first match to help the visitors chase down a mammoth victory target of 209 runs.
The visitors’ captain Aaron Finch on Friday finally found some form with a 15-ball 31 before he was bowled by an impressive Jasprit Bumrah, and the opener could only be applauded.
An impressive spell from left-arm spinner Axar Patel slowed Australia’s scoring.
Patel finished with 2-13 and was India’s most impressive bowler.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who returned to the team on Friday, took a wicket for 23 runs.
Sharma, who was also the player of the match, said the Indian bowlers “used the conditions quite well”.
“You just have to play the situation and use the conditions to your advantage,” he said.
“It was good to see Bumrah on the park. He is slowly and steadily getting back into his rhythm,” he added.
Finch said “Rohit was brilliant” and praised Wade as “a quiet customer at the end of the innings” who “did a wonderful job for us”.
The three-match series, a warm-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia next month, concludes in Hyderabad on Sunday.