Having taken a 1-0 lead in the ongoing five-match series, Team India will hope to replicate what they did in the opener in the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, November 26. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was outstanding with the bat smashing a quickfire 80 while Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh provided him with great support in chasing down what was India's biggest successful run-chase in T20Is.
Mukesh Kumar's economical spell was key in restricting Australia to 208 as it could have been easily 225-plus and it would have been challenging for India to chase. The weather is set to be cloudy and overcast on the matchday and hence the team winning the toss might elect to field. In two matches at the venue, the team chasing has won and Australia skipper Matthew Wade will be keen on winning the toss and chase.
Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram Pitch Report
The belter that was made for the series opener in Vizag could be replicated in Thiruvananthapuram, even though historically it hasn't been a high-scoring venue. The surface has generally been a good sporting wicket, which supports new-ball bowling as the ball moves quite a bit. In three T20Is so far at the venue, the highest first innings score has been 170. However, in an ODI earlier this year, the Indian batters pummeled Sri Lanka scoring 390 runs, which suggests that it could be another high-scoring encounter.
However, it might not be like the one both the teams faced in Vizag. The ball moves here quite a bit and toss might be crucial as the team batting first may have to counter some early movement but they are able to, there will be plenty of runs on offer. The team bowling first will stay in the hope of restricting the team batting first to somewhere less than 200 because the ball travels here and they will have to counter swing themselves early in the second innings.
