India won the second T20I of the three-match series against Australia at the SCG by 6 wickets and gained an unassailable lead of 2-0 with one match to be played at the same venue on December 8.
Virat Kohli won the toss and asked Australia to bat first on a batting beauty. Matthew Wade, stand-in Australia captain in place of injured Aaron Finch, scored 58 and with help of Steve Smith (46) and useful contributions from Henriques (26) and Maxwell (22), took Australia to a formidable 194/5 in 20 overs.
T Natarajan (2/20) was the pick of Indian bowlers with Chahal and Thakur picking one wicket each as well.
In reply, Rahul (30) and Dhawan (52) did well at the start. Virat Kohli kept the momentum going with a knock of 40, while Samson chipped in with 15 runs. However, when the last two overs required 24 runs to win, it came down to Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer to take India home and they did it in style.
While Iyer hit Zampa for a six and a four in the 18th over, Pandya slammed Tye for two fours in the 19th over and then took apart debutant Daniel Sams in the final over when 14 runs were needed off 6 balls.
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Hardik slammed four and two sixes to win the match for India with 6 wickets in hand. He remained unbeaten on 42 in 22 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes, while Iyer made 12* in 5 balls.
Mitchell Swepson with 1/25 was the best Australian bowler.
The cricket fraternity lauded the brilliant hitting by Hardik Pandya in the end to ensure a series win for India, who also registered their 9th consecutive win in T20Is.
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