India vs Australia 2019: Maxwell's 'big show' lights up Bangalore
Australia beat India in the second T20I by 7 wickets to claim the series 2-0, and it was quite the spectacular display for the Bangalore crowd.
Aaron Finch's men created history as they managed to defeat India in a T20 series for the very first time in their own backyard. The Australian team dominated the entire series and were the clear winners.
In the first T20 held on 24th February, the visitors won by 3 wickets. The match was a low scoring thriller where India put on a score of 126, but made a match of it with the ball.
The visitors needed 16 runs off two overs, when a wonderful over by Jasprit Bumrah saw just two runs scored off it. Umesh Yadav was given the ball for the final over where he was asked to defend 14 runs, but he failed to deliver. As a result, Australia took an unassailable lead, and went on to reinforce their authority in the second T20I.
The second T20I was held at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. India were asked to bat first after the Australian captain Finch won the toss and elected to field. The hosts managed to put on a massive score of 190 with the help of some wonderful batting by their right-handers.
Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and KL Rahul played crucial knocks which helped India post a good total. Kohli scored 72 off 38 balls at a strike rate of 189, which could have been a match-winning innings if not for Glenn Maxwell's heroics.
While chasing down the total the visitors were initially in trouble but then came in the 'Big Show' Maxwell. The explosive middle order batsmen scored a blistering 113 off 55 balls to take the Aussies past the finishing line. He brought up his third T20I hundred and with it became just the third batsman ever to do so in international cricket.
The Australian team seems to be on a mission. They are here to take revenge for the recent dominance by India in Australia, and Maxwell is the one leading the fight from their side.
Maxwell is the man in form right now and if India want to beat Australia in the ODI series, they need to find a way to stop him - and that too as quickly as possible.