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Published : 31 Oct 2025, 07:37 PM
A Josh Hazlewood masterclass with the ball and a batting blitz by Mitchell Marsh carried Australia to a dominant four-wicket win in the second T20I against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Fast bowler Hazlewood took 3-13 and racked up 15 dot balls in a devastating opening spell as Australia bowled out India for 125 in front of a crowd of 82,438 at the sporting colosseum.
Captain Marsh smashed 46 off 26 balls and shared in a 51-run opening partnership with Travis Head before the hosts reeled in the modest total with 40 balls to spare.
With the series-opener in Canberra washed out by rain on Wednesday, Australia will take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series into the third game in Hobart on Sunday.
India opener Abhishek Sharma top-scored with 68 off 37 balls, further enhancing his burgeoning reputation with a fine first fifty on Australian soil.
However, he was one of only two India batters to reach double figures on a lively pitch that offered pace and movement off the seam.
With Marsh winning the toss and electing to field, Hazlewood had Shubman Gill given out lbw on the first ball.
While the decision was overturned on review, Hazlewood followed up with a short ball that crashed into the crest of Gill's helmet.
A shaken-up Gill slogged Hazlewood to be caught for five, triggering a top-order collapse.
Hazlewood removed Suryakumar Yadav for one, the skipper's fourth single-digit score in six matches, before dismissing Tilak Varma for a duck two balls later with a top-edge caught by wicketkeeper Inglis.
By the end of Hazlewood's four-over spell, India were in huge trouble at 32 for four.
"The ball feels like it's coming out really nicely at the moment in whatever format I'm turning up and playing," said man-of-the-match Hazlewood.
"It was just put the ball in the right areas, don't try too much and see what happens."
Sharma made a bright start amid the Hazlewood onslaught, smashing 14 runs off paceman Xavier Bartlett (2-39) in the first over he faced.
He and Harshit Rana (35) combined in a 56-run stand for the sixth wicket to save India from embarrassment.
But Bartlett recovered well from his bruising early spell, dismissing Rana and Shivam Dube (4) in quick succession, the latter brilliantly pouched by a diving Inglis.
Another sharp catch in close by Sean Abbott saw Kuldeep Yadav depart for nought before Nathan Ellis (2-21) dismissed Abhishek lbw, ending India's hopes of a decent total.
