India vs Australia 2019: Run-Feast Likely In Second ODI

The first T20I between India and Australia did not quite pan out in an expected manner. While the fans were looking for a high-scoring game, the Vizag pitch played spoilsport. As a result, the game could yield only 253 runs in the 40 overs. Put in to bat first, India managed to score just 126 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs.

India were off to poor start as their in-form opener Rohit Sharma could score just five before returning to the pavilion. Comeback man KL Rahul and Virat Kohli then hit a flurry of boundaries to bring the innings on track. However, before the duo could bat India to a solid position, Adam Zampa struck to remove Kohli.

From thereon, the Men in Blue lost wickets at regular intervals which never allowed them to get the impetus. Rahul scored a fifty on his comeback but the likes of Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya failed to play their parts. MS Dhoni held firm from one end but with no one to support from the other, he just could not score fast and ended up scoring 29 off 37 balls.

However, the chase of 127 was not at all easy for Australia and at one stage it looked like they have lost the game before Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins took them over the line on the final delivery of the match.  The way the game had turned out, it was very clear that the batsmen were finding it tough to play their shots on the pitch.

Speaking after the game, Australia star Glenn Maxwell had said that scoring on the pitch was difficult.

“It [farming the strike] was probably fair enough with the way the wicket was – being difficult to score for any batter, let alone a guy who is not known for his power-hitting in Chahal. MS is obviously a world-class finisher and even he was finding it hard to hit the middle of the bat,” said Maxwell who had scored a match-winning fifty.

But unlike the first game, the second T20I in Bengaluru is likely to be a run-feast. R. Sudhakar Rao, secretary of KSCA, said that the M Chinnaswamy track looks ‘hard and bouncy’ and is conducive to batting.

“It’s a sporting wicket,” R. Sudhakar Rao told Sportstar.  “It looks like a hard and bouncy wicket. My prediction is the team batting first should be able to be able get 180. It’s a good surface and both the batsmen and bowlers should enjoy playing on it.”

Prep day today – #TeamIndia gearing up for the 2nd T20I in Bengaluru #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/YA2jP3igE7

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 26, 2019

India, meanwhile, have a mixed record at this venue, winning three and losing two. However, they will draw confidence from the fact that the two victories have come in their last two fixtures at the venue as they look to square the series.