India 125-8 (Abhishek 68, Varun 0) Overs bowled: 18
Here we go! Abhishek has barely seen the strike in the last few overs, but he finally gets it and goes big against Bartlett. He hammers a full toss through cover for four and follows it up with a big six off a slower-ball bouncer.
He knocks the last ball of the 15-run over for a single and retains the strike. Brilliant batting.
WICKET! India 110-8 (Abhishek 53, Varun 0) Overs bowled: 17
Kuldeep Yadav, c Abbott b Stoinis, 0 (6b)
Abhishek thinks there’s a two off the first ball of Stoinis’ over, but Australia deny him the second and he loses the strike.
Kuldeep is pinned down by Stoinis and falls trying to force a shot, with the sub fielder Abbott taking a nice catch at midwicket, diving forward to snaffle it just above the turf.
DOUBLE-WICKET OVER! India 109-7 (Abhishek 52, Kuldeep 0) Overs bowled: 16
Harshit Rana, c David b Bartlett 35, (33b)
Shivam Dube, c †Inglis b Bartlett, 4 (2b)
Rana’s handy contribution comes to an end as he cloths a slower ball from Bartlett into the deep, with a similar sort of shot that he attempted off Stoinis in the last over. Tim David takes the catch.
Shivam Dube is the new batter and he gets off the mark with a four first-up, getting a thick edge that runs away to the rope. But a similar shot and a similar edge is within reach of Inglis from his second ball, and the keeper takes an excellent catch. Bartlett is jubilant – those two batters could have done big damage in the death overs.
Abhishek turns down a single off the last ball of the over as Kuldeep edges one fine, opting to take the strike instead.
India 105-5 (Abhishek 52, Rana 35) Overs bowled: 15
India bring up their hundred, and it’s a fifty stand too, with Rana opening up his long levers and swinging Stoinis away for a hacked baseball-style six.
India 96-5 (Abhishek 52, Rana 26) Overs bowled: 14
We have a game on here, and credit to this pair for steering India into a position where they are still in with a chance, albeit a slim one at this stage.
Four runs come off Ellis’s over.
FIFTY! India 92-5 (Abhishek 51, Rana 23) Overs bowled: 13
What a knock this is from Abhishek Sharma! He cuts Kuhnemann away for a single to reach his milestone off just 23 balls. Given the context, this is a particularly impressive innings from the dangerous opener.
India 83-5 (Abhishek 48, Rana 17) Overs bowled: 12
Rana angles Stoinis away for four more as India look to get up towards triple figures with this recovery partnership.
There’s a pause at the end of the over to allow Rana to receive a little bit of attention from the physios.
India 74-5 (Abhishek 46, Rana 12) Overs bowled: 11
It’s Matt Kuhnemann who gets a bowl and he draws Rana into a rash shot that lofts through the ring in an aerial fashion, but hits a gap and runs away to the boundary.
Remarkably, that is the first boundary to be scored by an India batter who isn’t Abhishek Sharma in this game.
India 69-5 (Abhishek 45, Rana 7) Overs bowled: 10
More runs for Abhishek as he cuts new bowler Mitchell Owen away through backward point for four.
And he finishes the over with a swing behind square on the leg side for four more. It’s a one-man show.
India 56-5 (Abhishek 36, Rana 4) Overs bowled: 9
Marcus Stoinis comes into the attack and concedes six runs from his over, all in singles, as India look to regroup.
WICKET! India 50-5 (Abhishek 33, Rana 1) Overs bowled: 8
Axar Patel, run out (David/†Inglis), 7 (12b)
Australia drop two tough chances in three balls as the bowler Bartlett puts one down off his own bowling before Marsh fails to hold on to a terrific effort at cover.
But the home side get their wicket from that second drop in any case, as Tim David does brilliantly in the outfield, collecting the deflected ball and sending in an arrow of a throw. A mix-up between the batters leaves Axar in trouble, as he’s sent back, slips, and fails to make his ground before Inglis breaks the stumps.
Harshit Rana is in ahead of Shivam Dube at No. 7, with India looking to regroup and get up to a competitive total.
India 47-4 (Abhishek 33, Axar 5) Overs bowled: 7
Josh Hazlewood, 4-0-12-3
Australia opt to let Hazlewood bowl his four straight overs at the start of the innings and he very nearly gets the danger man Abhishek, drawing an edge from the opener that flies fractionally out of reach of Inglis behind the stumps.
India survive the over and Hazlewood finishes with figures of 3-12 – world-class bowling.
India 40-4 (Abhishek 29, Axar 3) Overs bowled: 6
One man is playing totally differently here, and Abhishek keeps his foot to the floor, swinging Ellis away to the rope to end the powerplay with a boundary.
DOUBLE-WICKET OVER! India 33-4 (Abhishek 24, Axar 1) Overs bowled: 5
Suryakumar Yadav, c †Inglis b Hazlewood, 1 (4b)
Tilak Varma, c †Inglis b Hazlewood, 0 (2b)
Hazlewood is on fire here. He very nearly gets the India skipper with the second ball of his third over, with the ball catching the glove and looping up over the head of the keeper Inglis, who tries to hold it but can’t quite cling on.
But Hazlewood gets his man next ball, finding the edge with a peach that Inglis takes behind the stumps.
And new batter Tilak Varma lasts just two balls, misting a flick and top-edging a steepling catch that Inglis does well to take.
Simply brilliant bowling and Hazlewood has ripped through India’s top order here.
WICKET! India 32-2 (Abhishek 24, SKY 1) Overs bowled: 4
Sanju Samson, lbw b Ellis, 2 (4b)
Nathan Ellis comes into the attack and he has Samson in a lot of bother, beating his outside edge with one that moves away. And he gets him next ball, moving the ball back in and rapping the India batter on the pads. Samson reviews, but it’s three reds and he has to go.
There’s a huge cheer as the India skipper Suryakumar Yadav strides out to the middle at No. 4. He knocks a single and Abhishek continues his fast-scoring start by slamming two boundaries to end the over, ramping one over short third and then driving through cover. Brutal hitting.
WICKET! India 22-1 (Abhishek 15, Samson 2) Overs bowled: 3
Shubman Gill, c Marsh b Hazlewood, 5 (10b)
Hazlewood is bowling like a dream here and he gets Gill, who mistimes a drive and lofts a catch to Marsh in the ring. Sanju Samson is the new batter.
India 18-0 (Gill 4, Abhishek 14) Overs bowled: 2
Here we go. India light up the evening with a big over, as Abhishek Sharma does what he does and goes extremely hard first up.
The big-swing opener ends the over with the first maximum of the night, heaving him majestically over the cover boundary.
India 1-0 (Gill 1, Abhishek 0) Overs bowled: 1
Gill given OUT first ball LBW…but successfully reviews to overturn decision
Video credit: TNT Sports
There are few things in this sport quite like a big occasion at the MCG, and a huge and vocal crowd welcome the teams out on to the pitch.
It’s Hazlewood who takes the first over, and he thinks he’s struck first ball, hooping one back in and clattering Gill on the front pad, with the finger going up. The India opener reviews, a tad hopefully, but the DRS review works in his favour, saying the ball was clearing the top of the stumps. The Aussie shakes his head with a smile at the technology’s suggestion.
Gill has some difficulties in the rest of a stunning first over, with a quick single off the final ball preventing it from being a maiden first up.
Watch this match LIVE on TNT Sports
The whole of this series is being broadcast live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
The Teams
Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Josh Inglis (wk), 4 Tim David, 5 Mitch Owen, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Josh Philippe, 8 Xavier Bartlett/Sean Abbott, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Matt Kuhnemann, 11 Josh Hazlewood
India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Joy for India in another Australian encounter
There was another meeting between these two nations in a white-ball international yesterday, with India pulling off a stunning run chase to beat Australia in a remarkable semi-final in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Here’s how Jemimah Rodrigues inspired the India team to one of the all-time great World Cup results:
Australia have won the toss and decided to bowl first
The first game in this series saw just 9.4 overs bowled as rain intervened in Canberra, but hopefully we’ll get a full match tonight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. These are the two top-ranked nations in the ICC’s T20 Rankings and India will surely be the team to beat in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which follows hot on the heels of the Ashes in a packed winter of top-level cricket.
Hello and welcome
Good morning, welcome to live coverage of the second T20 International between Australia and India. You can watch this game, and the upcoming 2025/26 Ashes series, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
