MELBOURNE: The second Twenty20 International between India and Austra­lia was called off on Friday following persistent rain in Melbourne.

Put into bat, Australia overcame a poor start to reach 132 for seven in 19 overs when rain forced the players off the field at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ben McDermott made 32 not out off 30 balls before scurrying off the ground with batting partner Andrew Tye.

The umpires first considered a 19-overs-a-side game before setting India a revised target of 90 from 11 overs to level the series.

However, with the rain returning, the match was eventually called off.

Australia, who clinched the rain-hit series opener in Brisbane, will carry a 1-0 lead into Sunday’s final match in Sydney.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:

D. Short b Ahmed 14
A. Finch c Pant b Kumar 0
C. Lynn c Pandya c Ahmed 13
G. Maxwell b Pandya 19
M. Stoinis c Karthik b Bumrah 4
B. McDermott not out 32
A. Carey c Pandya b Yadav 4
N. Coulter-Nile c Pandey b Kumar 18
A. Tye not out 12

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-12) 16

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 19 overs) 132

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-27, 3-35, 4-41, 5-62, 6-74, 7-101

DID NOT BAT: A. Zampa, J. Behrendorff, B. Stanlake

BOWLING: Kumar 3-0-20-2; Bumrah 4-0-20-1; Ahmed 4-0-39-2; Yadav 4-0-23-1; Pandya 4-0-26-1

INDIA: R. Sharma, S. Dhawan, V. Kohli, KL.Rahul, R. Pant, D. Karthik, K. Pandya, B. Kumar, K. Yadav, J. Bumrah, K. Ahmed

RESULT: Match abandoned

SERIES: Australia lead three-match series 1-0.

UMPIRES: Gerard Abood, Simon Fry (both Australia)

TV UMPIRE: Paul Wilson (Australia)

MATCH REFEREE: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2018