Star all-rounder Shivam Dube’s 37-match-long unbeaten streak in T20Is came to an end on Friday, as the Indian team slumped to a four-wicket defeat to Australia in the second game of the five-match T20I series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, thanks to a shambolic batting performance.
Put in to bat first, India posted a paltry 125, riding on Abhishek Sharma’s 37-ball 68. In reply, Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head added 51 runs for the opening stand before the latter was dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy.
The wicket didn’t deter Marsh and he accompanied wicketkeeper Josh Inglis to add another 36 runs for the second wicket before being dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav.
Although Australia couldn’t build any partnerships henceforth, with the
target well within their reach, they went past it in just the 14th over.
Notably, Dube was on a 37-match unbeaten streak since 2019, with even ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah not having lost his last 24 games. But this defeat at the MCG ends both their streaks.
Dube’s last loss came against the Windies in Trivandrum in December 2019. India could manage 170 in that match, riding on his 30-ball 54, but a 45-ball 67-run innings from Lendl Simmons meant that the Windies clinched a brilliant win.
Bumrah’s last defeat in a T20I was against New Zealand in Dubai in October 2021, during the T20 World Cup. India could manage a paltry 110/7 in that game, with Ravindra Jadeja’s 19-ball 26 being the highest score.
Daryl Mitchell’s 35-ball 49 took New Zealand past the target in the 15th over.
Longest unbeaten streaks for a cricketer in T20Is
37: Shivam Dube (2019-25)
27: Pascal Murungi (2022-24*)
24: Jasprit Bumrah (2021-25)
20: Manish Pandey (2018-20*)
19: Mohammad Shahzad (2016-21)
How did the match pan out at the MCG?
Star Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood dismantled a famed Indian top-order with a probing spell to kill the contest as Australia cantered to a four-wicket win.
In front of a crowd of 82,438, India endured one of its most humbling losses; nine batters couldn’t reach double digits as the team folded for a paltry 125 inside 19 overs.
