India have beaten Australia by 44 runs in the second T20I of the five-match series at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (November 26). Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first in this fixture but each of India's top three batters scored half-centuries to lay a solid foundation for the Men in Blue. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 53 off 25, Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 58 off 43 and Ishan Kishan made 52 off 32 before a handly little cameo from Rinku Singh worth 9-ball 31* that propelled them to a score of 235/4.
In the run chase, Australia lost three wickets inside the powerplay and were always behind in the second innings. The two spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel got the early breakthroughs for the hosts before the pacers joined in. Bishnoi eventually returned with figures of 3 for 32 while Prasidh too picked 3 for 41.
There was only one partnership that seemed to threaten India's strong total which was the fifth-wicket partnership worth 81 off 38 between Tim David (37 off 22) and Marcus Stoinis (45 off 25). Once India broke the partnership, the match never looked out of their grasp and they eventually completed a dominant victory.
From the southernmost international cricket venue in India, the series focus will now head to the easternmost international cricket venue in the country with the third match of the series set to be played at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.