India vs Australia, 2nd T20I as it happened: Rohit Sharma guides hosts to 6-wicket win

11.02 pm: Dinesh Karthik finishes it off in style by hitting Daniel Sams for a six and a four off the first two balls of the last over. Rohit Sharma remains unbeaten on a fantastic 46 off 20. We are heading to a series decider!

INDIA WIN BY 6 WICKETS

IND 82/4 (7 overs): Cummins bowls another wide before Rohit ends the over with a perfectly-placed square cut for four. India now need 9 off 6.

IND 77/4 (6.5 overs): OUT! Cummins continues to bowl it slower and gets rewarded. Hardik attempts a slog and skies it with Finch taking the catch. Hardik departs for a rather poor 9 off 9 as DK comes to the crease. India need 14 off 7.

IND 69/3 (6 overs): Back-to-back fours for Rohit. He’s playing a gem of an innings and is unbeaten on 41 off 18 now. Abbot concedes 11 runs in his first over. India now need 22 off 12.

IND 55/3 (4.3 overs): OUT! Suryakumar Yadav is out for a first-ball duck! He attempts a sweep and is hit in front and decides not to take a review after consulting with Rohit. This is brilliant from Zampa, he’s on a hat-trick as Hardik comes to the crease.

IND 55/2 (4.2 overs): OUT! Kohli hits another boundary but is clean bowled this time after stepping down to Zampa. The leg-spinner gets his second wicket. Kohli walks back for 11 off 6 as Suryakumar comes to the crease.

IND 51/1 (4 overs): Shot! Sams bowls it slightly short and Kohli stands tall and drives it straight over for four. India now need 40 off 24 and are surely the favourites but Australia can surely turn this around.

IND 39/1 (2.5 overs): OUT! Australia get the breakthrough thanks to Zampa. The leg-spinner was hit for a six over long-off by Rohit earlier but this time he cleans up Rahul as the right-hander attempts a slog. Rahul departs for 10 off 6 as Kohli comes to the crease.

IND 30/0 (2 overs): Cummins bowls a short ball and Rohit pulls it for six. But it ends up being a decent over by the right-arm pacer despite the six, a wide and an overthrow, just 10 runs from it.

IND 20/0 (1 over): Three sixes in the first over! Stunning shot-making by the Indian openers. Rohit whacks one a long way before pulling the next ball for six too. Rahul then ends the over with a stylish flick for six. Dream start for India.

10.19 pm: We’re ready for the chase and India have kept the same opening combination in Rohit and Rahul. Hazlewood has the ball. Here we go!

10.10 pm: Wade hits Harshal for three sixes in the last over to finish at a stunning 43 off 20. Steve Smith is runb-out for 8 off 5 with the last ball of the innings as Wade hits it straight back and Harshal manages to stop the ball. Smith ran down the pitch and had no chance of returning. Harshal returns with 0/32 from his two overs. This is a solid total for the visitors.

AUSTRALIA FINISH WITH 90/5

AUS 71/4 (7 overs): Bumrah with another absolutely sensational yorker and this time it’s Smith who is floored, literally. Wade, though, manages to cut another one for four to make it a decent over for Australia.

AUS 59/4 (6 overs): Harshal joins the attack and bowls an expensive over as Wade cuts to deliveries for fours. Australia have managed a good scoring rate despite the fall of wickets.

AUS 46/4 (5 overs): OUT! Bumrah, back in the side after a lengthy absence due to injury, starts his spell with a big wicket. Finch cut one over point for four earlier in the over but he’s beaten for pace this time by a low full toss and is clean bowled. The Australia captain walks back for 31 off 15 as Steve Smith comes to the crease.

AUS 35/3 (4 overs): Wicket, four dots, and a boundary. The end of an excellent over from Axar even as Wade finished it with a reverse sweep for four.

AUS 31/3 (3.1 overs): OUT! A near identical dismissal to that of Maxwell and this time the dangerous Tim David is walking back for 2 off 3. Axar strikes again with his arm ball. He’s been involved in all three wickets so far and been brilliant.

AUS 31/2 (3 overs): Six! Chahal tosses it up and Finch hits it straight over. The leg-spinner concedes 12 runs in his first over.

AUS 19/2 (2 overs): OUT! Maxwell is clean bowled for a first ball duck! Axar keeps things straight and skiddy as always and hits the timber as the right-hander attempts a slog. This is a solid start for India and the Nagpur crowd is pumped.

AUS 14/1 (1.3 overs): OUT! Brilliant work by Kohli and Axar and Green is run out. Kohli dropped a tough chance at the boundary at the start of the over after covering great ground running across from long on. But this time the former India captain gets Green with a superb effort from mid on. He got to the ball in flash and released an accurate throw with Axar doing a good job to knock the stumps over. Green departs for 5 off 4 as Maxwell comes to the crease.

AUS 10/0 (1 over): Finch is off to a strong start, he scoops one for four before piercing the off side ring for another boundary. Hardik started the over with a beauty and ended the over with another wonderful delivery that beat the Australia captain.

9.30 pm: At last, the players are in readiness and we’re ready for the first ball! Hardik Pandya will start proceedings for India with Rishabh Pant behind the stumps, Aaron Finch is on strike with Cameron Green at the other end. Here we go!

Playing XIs

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (w), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Matthew Wade (w), Pat Cummins, Daniel Sams, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Changes for India: Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant come in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav.

TOSS: Rohit Sharma has won the toss and opted to field first.

Update: It’s going to be an 8 overs per side match.

Update: We are going to have a match after all! The toss will be at 9.15 pm, the match will start at 9.30 pm and the powerplay will be of two overs. The innings break will be of 10 minutes.

Update: The umpires have had an inspection again and spoken with the skippers and handed them a piece of paper each. Still no confirmation on what the decision is.

Update: Next inspection at 8.45pm. Umpires say they are concerned about soft patches on the outfield and it is taking longer than expect to dry out. The first ball has to be bowled by 9.46pm IST to have a match. But player safety is first and foremost.

The wait continues...

8.08 pm: The broadcasters confirm that the latest possible start for a five-over match is 9.46 pm IST. Some sawdust being thrown on the wet patches.

7.07 pm: It’s gone from bad to worse now as the next inspection has been scheduled for 8 pm. The umpires just checked the outfield out and had a word with captains Rohit Sharma and Aaron Finch.

Well, it’s not the news we were looking for...

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the second T20 International between India and Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.

It’s a must-win game for Rohit Sharma and Co after Australia’s four-wicket win in the first T20I of the three-match series. India’s batters did an impressive job in the first game, with KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya leading the way, but the bowlers came up short and couldn’t defend 208 runs. The hosts are likely to be bolstered by the return of premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah in tonight’s second T20I and they will be determined to force a decider in the series.

India vs Australia: Suryakumar on his batting role, Bumrah’s fitness, Harshal’s form and more

Cricket: Wasim Jaffer – ‘Concerned going into the World Cup with Chahal as my main spinner’

Squads

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (w), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Hooda.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (w), Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Kane Richardson, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Daniel Sams.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy bcci.tv / Disney+Hotstar