India vs Australia Live Cricket Score, 2nd T20 (AP photo)India vs Australia 2nd T20I:Australia lost a flurry of wickets late in the chase, including two off consecutive balls to Jasprit Bumrah. However, they had got close enough to the target by then, with Bumrah’s twin strike coming when Australia needed just two runs to win in the 13th over. Abhishek Sharma’s earlier 37-ball 68 saved the blushes for India as they were bundled out for 125. Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl first against Suryakumar Yadav’s India in the second of the five-match T20I series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on Friday
IND vs AUS 2nd T20I LIVE Cricket Score, Full Scorecard: Watch Here
More than the series win itself, both sides will be looking to test the strenghts of their sides in their preparation for the T20 World Cup 2026 at India and Sri Lanka in February. Although India has had the upper hand over Australia in bilateral T20I cricket, the hosts in recent times have been playing a modern attacking brand of cricket.
India vs Australia 2nd T20I Live Cricket Streaming Online Details: Watch Here
The players to watch out for India in the game are Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, who on their day, can take the game away from any opposition, and as per Australia, it is going to be Travis Head who has been a nightmare for India, and with the ball, it is going to be Josh Hazlewood who has been in sublime form.
A couple of last second dead ball calls there in the 14th over bowled by Kuldeep. The first of all those seems to have even hurt Kuldeep a little bit as he was in his delivery stride. Stoinis then knocks away the second ball through cover and runs two.
Well it really is nothing more than something to make India smile. Australia need just two runs to win (off 42 balls, in case you are wondering). Bumrah finishes that over and his spell off with a length ball angling into Xavier Bartlett, who just defends it down Test-match style. Three runs and two wickets in that over and well, Australia have lost six wickets in their pursuit of a target of 126. Shows you this wasn't the easiest of pitches to bat on.
Oh you beauty! Matt Short welcomed to the crease with a classic Bumrah yorker and there are stumps and bails flying everywhere! A yorker of pin-point precision at 137kph, Short can't get his bat down in time.
Well, it's on folks! The fightback is on! Or maybe not. But Mitch Owen hasn't had the greatest out there with the bat and he won't be around to finish this game off. Fourth ball of the 13th was full outside off, shapes away slightly, Owen drives, edge and Samson takes the catch.
Good review there from Suryakumar Yadav. Kuldeep gets the third ball of the 12th over to rush through to Inglis, who completely missed his flick off the back foot. Ball tracking shows that it was just about pitching in line, very close call there. Hitting the wickets and the umpire changes his decision.
Australia 112/4 in 11.3 overs
Owen pulled a short of a length delivery from Kuldeep last ball of the 10th over, he could only get a top edge. Varun and Rana both ran in for the catch, the latter got to it first but he couldn't hold on to it.
Australia need 22 to win from 60 balls.
Varun Chakarvarthy picks up his second wicket of the evening here. Tim David, with his hard hands, pushed the ball forward, and Chakarvarthy took the catch. India has picked up a few wickets here, but they do not have too many runs to play with. If they had built another partnership in the first innings, they would have probably got another 20-30 runs, which would have altered the way they would have bowled, but it did not happen. It is very tough to judge bowlers with the target they are defending right now.
Mitchell Marsh is now flexing his muscles here. He is going onto the back foot and hitting those good length regions through that leg side. It is not a wicket for the spinners, and the way Marsh is pummeling the Indian bowlers, it is quite evident they have definitely got their combination today. This is a proper hammering of the Asia Cup champions, who have looked imperious in September and are being humbled today. While they are favourites going into the World Cup, this game is a certain reality check that there are a few holes that need to be filled.
Varun Chakarvarthy has picked up the first wicket here. Travis Head tried to hit one over long-off, but Tilak Varma, fielding there, took a stunning catch. He went over the boundary line and caught the ball, and threw it back into the field of play, and Tilak went back to take the catch. That is a stunning effort from Varma, but has the wicket come a tad bit too late? We will find out. It is the first game for Chakarvarthy on Australian shores, and he has bowled exactly in a similar way he would bowl in the sub-continent. He has found that good length pretty quickly for this wicket.
That was a poor over from Jasprit Bumrah; he conceded a few, which was unlike him, and released the momentum for Australia. India were losing wickets at this stage of the game in their batting innings, but it must be said Australia have got to a bit of a flier, and largely the Indian bowling missed the mark can be thanked for that. Well, it is not a wicket that seems to be spin-friendly, but Surya has to turn to one of those mystery ones he has. As we update, Harshit Rana has bowled a no-ball here. It is turning out to be a forgettable outing for the Indian side here.
Jasprit Bumrah has taken the new ball for India, and it is hoping around for him. Australia has the advantage that they don't have to worry about what a good score is. They have a target in front of them, and they can play it safe in these initial overs and keep the emphasis more on building the partnership and surviving early on, and with wickets in hand, they can accelerate in the second half of the innings. For India, on the other hand, there is not much wriggle room; they have to keep picking wickets to make something out of this game.
Both Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head are in the middle. There is enough in this surface for the Indian bowlers to work with, especially the quicker men; however, they have to hit the right areas and look to bowl well rather than pushing for the wickets too much, which might create some loose balls for Australia to work with.
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis(w), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
Well, first it was Abhishek Sharma who was trapped in front of the wicket by Nathan Ellis; it was a superb yorker from him. Although Abhishek did send it upstairs, there were three reds. Jasprit Bumrah was run out as he was trying to take a single and was almost half the way down. Varun changed his mind and denied the single, meanwhile Nathan Ellis did the rest by finishing the run out. It is not the worst score India has got here, but they need to have a very good power play with the ball to stay in the game. It is doing a bit, and they have Bumrah, but he can only bowl four overs. Could they have picked another seamer at least for this game instead of a leg-spinner? Only time will tell. A fascinating chase coming up, folks, in the second innings. Do stay with us.
India has lost two more here. First, it was Shivam Dube who was undone by a cracker of a delivery from Bartlett, which pitched on the hard length and moved slightly away, which he ended up edging, and then Kuldeep just pulled a Stoinis delivery, which carried to mid-on. India has lost eight wickets. There was that bit of partnership between Rana and Abhishek, and we are back to wicket-tumbling again. It is important from here on that Abhishek Sharma gets much of the strike here. He has been at the non-striker's end for far too long in this innings.
This is a superb partnership between Harshit Rana and Abhishek Sharma. Rana has especially given a decent account of himself. He batted at a decent clip and maintained that strike rotation nicely through the innings. Well, as we update, Harshit Rana has fallen here. It is once again his slap shot which he has deployed against Ellis for six over the long-on region. He attempted, but a slower one from Bartlett hit the bottom of Rana's bat, and the ball was galloped by Tim David there. So the partnership is finally broken.
Abhishek Sharma has got to his half-century in just 23 deliveries here. It is a cracking innings from the Indian opener, it seems to be his dancing at his own tune while others are yet to find their dancing shoes. The important thing for India here is that he carries on for another few overs and allows themselves to score around that 150-mark, which might be a pretty good total on this wicket. Mind you, Josh Hazlewood has extracted quite a bit of this wicket, and India has Jasprit Bumrah playing for them, who will be more than handy if he finds his radar today.
Well, Rana has got a couple of boundaries for all those who are wondering why he was promoted. It is still hard to figure out the reason, probably it has to do with setting up a foundation of sorts, or just survive this period and keep Shivam Dube at the end whose main strenght is smashing spinners and if Australia have to use three overs if not four overs of Mathew Kuhnemann because of the fifth bowling combination which Australia has been picking is a culimination of few part-timers who might bowl an extra over after completing the fifth bowler quota and reduce Kuhenmann's four to three but he has to bowl at least two isnt he if they have trusted to pick him as the main spinner.
Axar Patel has got himself run out here. That is the last thing India needed in this game, with the wicket already doing plenty. India needs to build a partnership and calm themselves down here, as this innings has been going on overdrive. They might pick those old dark tricks of taking a few drinks break or call a physio to fix some issue and break the Aussie momentum. Everything that had to go wrong for them went wrong in the first nine overs. And in a surprise move, Harshit Rana has come into the middle to bat for India. It will be interesting to understand the rationale behind this decision.
Josh Hazlewood is done for the evening. Mitchell Marsh has given him four overs upfront, and he has picked up three wickets. Accuracy is something which is a given with Hazlewood, but today it seemed like there was a plan in his head on how to get a batter out, and he executed those deliveries. Understanding the flaws and strengths of the batter and bowling those cunning deliveries has been the standout. For instance, that slower one to Tilak Varma, knowing or expecting him to play that flick, which is his productive shot, is quite a masterful thinking from him.
India has lost two more wickets here, and it is Josh Hazlewood who is the culprit here yet again. The first one was Suryakumar Yadav, who got away the previous delivery when he tried to play that shot where he gets almost over the keeper for a six, but this time gloved it, but Jos Inglis, behind the stumps, dropped it but Hazlewood, the following delivery, bowled a Test match length with the channel around off-stump, and Surya edged it. For Tilak Varma, who delivered a slower one, and Tilak tried to play his favourite flick through the leg-side and got the leading edge. India has lost four wickets inside the power play here.
It was a bit of a nothing shot from Shubman. He was getting in a bit of a tangle, and he tried to force one over mid-off, got the bottom edge to the fielder there. It is once again Hazlewood's immaculate length, where it constantly keeps batsmen guessing whether to go forward or not. Sanju Samson then walked into the middle and got a couple and one from Nathan Ellis seamed back in, and Samson was caught in front of the wicket. This wicket is doing quite a bit here, and India needs to make sure that while Abhishek is doing his thing from the other end, the other batters try and stay at the crease.
Abhishek Sharma went after Xavier Bartlett here. One good thing about Abhishek is, regardless of how the wicket plays he does not die wandering, he will step down and move across the crease to force that error, which is what Abhishek did against Bartlett. The first one he flicked through the leg-side and then came down the track and converted a half-volley into a full toss and punished it for a boundary to get his second boundary, followed up by another six later in the over. As we update, Shubman Gill has departed here.
We have a bit of a delay in the first over here. The first interruption was caused as Shubman Gill was given out, and the batter sent it upstairs only to find out the ball was missing the stumps in height, and a couple of deliveries later, the ball hit the badge of Gill and there was a concussion test. Although it is not as green per se, there is a lot of carry, which is unlike Melbourne in recent years. It probably has to do with when this game is scheduled in the cricket calendar of Australia. Come Boxing Day Ashes Test, we might see a completely different surface.
We had a moment of silence to pay tributes to the death of 17-year-old Ben Austin, who died after the ball hit his head. As per the crowd, it is still filling up, and the weather does look good as of now, so we might have a full game, fingers crossed. Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma will make their way into the middle for India.
It's a bit overcast and cold. I think it might get a touch slower as the game goes but overall it's a good wicket for batting.
We are happy to bat first. That is the brand of cricket we want to play. Shubman knows how to score runs. With him you have to run hard between the wickets as well. We are playing the same team
We are going to bowl first. Looks a good one, hopefully it won't change for 40 overs. We have one change - Short comes in for Philippe.
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis(w), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
“The truth is that the Asia Cup was also just decent. In the final, actually that was that kind of pitch and that kind of total where you look towards Shubman Gill and say that he should win the game, but he couldn’t win that game,” he said.
“Let’s be fair, Shubman Gill has come with good form. He played well in the Test matches against the West Indies. He wasn’t seen playing badly here either. Maybe short of runs, if we see the last three games, but he doesn’t look out of form. However, there will be slight pressure on him,” Chopra remarked.
“Yasahsvi Jaiswal is around the corner. He says he is also there and should also be played, and that he would also hit if he is played. So making Yashasvi Jaiswal sit out also becomes an issue of pressure,” Chopra observed.
“People are breathing down his neck. One is in the team itself. Sanju Samson had opened and done well. You are keeping him with the team and making him bat down the order. Many times, it seems like you are being unjust to Sanju Samson. There is pressure if you are not making him open,” he added.
“This T20I series will be extremely important for Shubman Gill. It’s important for him because runs weren’t scored when he was elevated to ODI captaincy. Again, you can’t read too much into it because it’s just been one series. I get that. So it’s not like there is a question on his place,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“Rohit, another hundred…. Back in the runs (is) the Biscotti, going strong and I am looking forward to what’s sort of ahead,” de Villiers said. “I honestly just think, if you’re a fan of cricket, it’s just really time to celebrate players like these. It’s not often players like these come across our paths. It’s a generational combo of talent that we have here, and it’s really necessary for us to celebrate them and to enjoy the last few years, however long they last,” he added.
“Obviously, I am referring to the minority because I think the majority of people celebrate Rohit and Virat and their incredible careers. And it is a fantastic time to celebrate them once again,” he added.
“I don’t know what it is about people. I’m not sure if I can call them people. Cockroaches climbing out of their holes as soon as players get towards the backend of their careers. Why? Why do you want to pour negative energy into players that have given their lives literally for their country and this beautiful game of cricket? This is the perfect time to celebrate them (and) not now when they have done well.” “Not now that they have done They have taken a lot of criticism in the last few months. Everyone is just trying to push them down for what reason, I have no idea,” de Villiers said on his 360 Live show.
“One cause of concern is skipper Surya’s batting and his form. If you see the numbers for the last few years, he had a strike rate of 166 and no one made more runs than him. Now if the average is going towards 20 and you are struggling to make runs that means your form is down. Will Surya make runs in Australia? I think the pitches should suit him. He uses the pace of the bowlers and he plays well square of the wicket, it’s ideal for Surya. If you recall, when Surya debuted, he used the pace of Jofra Archer and played a shot. If a player plays that kind of a shot, it’s his strength. If the pitches suit his strengths then it’ll be easier for him to come back to form,” Pathan said.
“Bumrah’s economy of 6 is simply unbelievable. According to me India has never had a more skillful bowler. There hasn’t been a more skillful bowler produced by India than Jasprit Bumrah. Don’t know about the future, but currently, there is no comparison. Wherever his role is very important in the T20Is, like the new ball, 1-2 overs in the middle and the at the end 1-1. Combination will be important and we’ll see how Suryakumar Yadav uses Bumrah,” said Pathan on his YouTube channel.
“The only good thing is he did well at No. 5 in the Asia Cup. It’s a good sign because Sanju is now the automatic choice as the first wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup,” he said.
“The guy who’s most unlucky is Sanju Samson. He was scoring centuries as an opener. But now they send him everywhere — from No. 3 to No. 8. If given an opportunity, they may send him at No. 11 also! A person like Sanju will naturally feel bad after doing so well at the top, but he has no option but to be tight-lipped and bat wherever the team asks him to,” Srikkanth said in his YouTube channel.
This will be the first match to be hosted by the MCG this season. The ground is known to be slightly more friendly to bowlers than what is usually the case in T20Is. Moreover, the sheer size of the grounds also tends to be helpful for the bowling side. However, fast bowler Nathan Ellis said before the match that there have been some big-scoring BBL matches at the MCG of late. “I feel like every Big Bash game has been 180-plus [totals] there and you had good value for runs, whilst being a little bit in it for the bowlers,” Ellis said.
Unfortunately for fans, it could be more of the same in Melbourne with chances of showers and a possible thunderstorm throughout the day. According to AccuWeather, there is an 87 percent probability of precipitation and 99 percent cloud cover expected in the city on Friday. Probability of thunderstorms stand at 17 percent. The match is scheduled to start at 1.45pm local time. The probability of precipitation in the afternoon time itself, which is when the match is scheduled to take place, stands at 71 percent with 1.4mm of rain predicted.
Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on Australia in the 2nd T20I at Melbourne. The first game was a washout; however, hopefully, we will have a full game today. The crowd will be buzzing at the venue, so stay with us to get all the live updates and catch the vibe from MCG.
In the opening T20 International, the Australian fast bowler initially had the Indian skipper pinned down, forcing him to awkwardly evade or miss several deliveries. However, on the third delivery he encountered, the captain took charge. He implemented his signature, unconventional footwork, moving laterally across the crease to establish a solid base for the incoming ball. Despite this being a movement that defies classic cricket instruction, it is standard for him. The text emphasizes his remarkable focus—eyes locked on the ball while his mind processed the available gaps in the field—highlighting how his unique, precise method successfully turned the situation around against the high-quality bowling. (Read more from Sandip G)
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