Indian cricket team Captain Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 46 after Axar Patel took two wickets. This boosted the score of the Indian team and with Dinesh Karthik’s closing six and four, India won the match against Australia by six wickets with a score of 92/4. And this is how the second India vs Australia T20 match transpired in Nagpur on September 23, Friday.
The lineup for the Indian cricket team was KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Why did each team play only eight overs?
Owing to the overnight rain that left a few wet patches all over the pitch in Nagpur, the match that was held at the VCA Stadium was delayed by two hours. Although there was no rain yesterday, the cricket pitch was wet. The umpire instructed that sawdust be sprinkled on the pitch to reduce the chances of hurting the wicketkeeper and fielders of both teams. The match that was scheduled to start by 7.00 pm (IST) was delayed by two and half hours and finally, commenced on 9.30 pm (IST).
The fans as well as the players had to wait for about two and half hours for the umpire to check the pitch and give the green light to go ahead with the match. Due to this, the number of overs for each team was brought down from ten overs to eight overs. The toss was also delayed by nearly three hours.
What are the rules when it comes to rains during the time of a cricket match?
Usually, when it comes to cricket tournaments, in case of interruptions that are caused by rains of less than 30 minutes, the match continues. If the playing time is reduced for more than thirty minutes, the number of overs will be reduced equally for both teams, that is, both teams will have an equal number of overs.
In a similar situation in India vs Australia match yesterday, the number of overs for both teams was reduced to eight overs each.
And Rohit Sharma has the maximum sixes now?
Rohit Sharma's unbeaten score of 46 of 20 balls in the match helped India reach the target of 91 set by the opponents.
The Indian captain now stands at the top position with a total of 176 sixes in the T20I cricket series and is followed by New Zealand opener Martin Guptill (172). They are followed by West Indies legend Chris Gayle (124), former England skipper Eoin Morgan (120) and Australian veteran Aaron Finch (119) as reported by the ANI.
Rohit Sharma has now scored 3,677 runs in 138 matches across 130 innings in T20I cricket, with four centuries and 28 half-centuries at an average of 32.53. Out of these 3,677 runs, 1,056 runs have come using sixes. Approximately 28% of Rohit Sharma's balls have been sixes.
What do the players say after yesterday’s match?
"All square. See you in Hyderabad," tweeted Virat Kholi, who scored 11 off six balls was visibly elated with the team's performance.
"To come out and play such shots against a world-class bowling attack was superb. Rohit played brilliantly and he set up the win for us. I think he was a worth Player of the Match," Karthik said in the post-match press conference on Friday as reported by IANS.
"Rohit was brilliant. And the two overs Axar bowled was probably the difference in the game. (Matthew) Wade is such a calm customer at the back end of the innings. He did a wonderful job for us. We got close," said Aaron Finch, Captain of the Australian team.
Also, what happened at the Gymkhana Ground on Thursday?
A case was filed against the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) on September 22. This was because a stampede broke out outside the Secunderabad Gymkhana ground which led to a baton charge by the police to disperse the crowd that had queued to purchase the tickets for the third T20 match between India and Australia.
The Begumpet Police have filed a complaint against the cricket association under Sections 420 (cheating) and 337 (causing hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others). This is because the police have evidence of tickets being sold in the black market and mismanagement on the side of the HCA.
What is on the cards for tomorrow’s match?
India and Australia are now tied with one win each, so tomorrow’s match will determine which team will walk home the T20 trophy. The third and final T20 will be played tomorrow, September 25, at 7.00 pm (IST) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
The pitch in Hyderabad is flat and will aid run-scoring.
