Surya rues top-order collapse after Hazlewood, Marsh help Australia beat India at MCG: 'Very difficult to recover'

Captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted pacer Josh Hazlewood proved too hot for the Indian batters to handle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after his side suffered a four-wicket defeat in the second T20I on Friday .

The Men in Blue were bundled out for a sub-par 125 after losing the toss for the fifth time in as many matches in the ongoing white-ball tour Down Under. And Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the Australian bowlers once again with figures of 3/13 in four overs that earned him the Player of the Match award, all three wickets coming in the powerplay .

Surya credited Hazlewood for taking the game away from the Indians from the word go, adding that it was always going to be an uphill task for them to recover from such as disastrous start and post a competitive score.

“The way he (Hazlewood) bowled in the powerplay - if you’re four down early, it’s very difficult to recover. Credit goes to him, he bowled really well,” ‘SKY’ said during the post-match presentation ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Surya heaps praise on Abhishek after opener smashes fiery 68

Among the positives for the visitors was opener Abhishek Sharma blasting 68 off just 37 deliveries after departing cheaply in the series opener in Canberra that had been abandoned due to rain.

Abhishek was the only batter from either team to bring up a half-century. Additionally, his 56-run sixth-wicket partnership with Harshit Rana – the only other batter to enter double figures with a knock of 35 – ensured the visitors got past the 100-mark at the very least.

“He’s (Abhishek) been doing this for a while now. He knows his game, knows his identity, and it’s good he’s not changing it - that’s what’s brought him success. Hopefully, he sticks with it and plays many more knocks like this for us,” Surya said on Abhishek’s contribution.

Australia had raced to 87/1 in the eighth over in reply, thanks to an explosive opening partnership between captain Mitchell Marsh (46) and Travis Head (28) worth 51 off just 27 deliveries. The Indians, however, refused to give up despite the hopeless situation, and fought back with a flurry of wickets – even if they came at a stage where the game had already slipped out of India’s grasp.

Spinners Varun Chakravarthy (2/23) and Kuldeep (2/45) collected a couple of wickets each, the former finishing as the most economical of Indian bowlers at the ‘G’, as did star pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/26) – who struck twice in as many balls in his final over of the day.

The fight back with the ball could have been a match-winning one had India managed to cross 150 at the very least. Despite losing six wickets, Australia managed to breach the target with nearly seven overs to spare, making it clear that it was always their game to lose after the Marsh-Head partnership.