T20 International: Mitch Marsh scores quick-fire 46 as Australia beat India by four wickets

A lethal spell from Josh Hazlewood has propelled Australia to an emphatic four-wicket Twenty20 victory over India in front of 82,438 fans at the MCG.

After a collapse in the opening match of the five-match series in Canberra on Wednesday evening, Australia took a 1-0 lead with an impressive performance.

With the huge crowd in Melbourne consisting mainly of Indian fans, Hazlewood silenced them from the start after captain Mitch Marsh won another toss and elected to bowl first.

After dismissing India for 125 off 18.4 overs, Marsh (46) and fellow opener Travis Head (28) tried to end the match as quickly as possible, with Australia chasing down India’s disappointing target with a whopping 40 balls to spare, racing to 126-6 off 13.2 overs.

Marsh, who is in scintillating white-ball form, hit one of the biggest sixes ever at the MCG as he blasted Harshit Rana into the second tier of the Olympic Standings.

After hitting four sixes, Marsh went for one big shot too many and was caught at long-off, with Australia 39 runs away from victory.

Australia lost 39 for 4 after Marsh’s dismissal, with Jasprit Bumrah getting a hat-trick, but were never in danger of losing the match.

Hazlewood never relented after seemingly taking a wicket with the first ball of the match, which was then overturned on review, to finish with figures of 3 for 13.

Opener Abhishek Sharma batted superbly and played a single hand to save India from embarrassment with 68 off 37 balls.

However, Sharma failed to find enough of the strike for India to really capitalize on his class.

All-rounder Harshit Rana (35 off 33 balls), who reached the boundary at No. 7 in the eighth over, faced just four fewer deliveries than Sharma.

Hazlewood’s evening could have been better, with wicketkeeper Josh Inglis dropping a catch and Shubman Gill successfully challenging an lbw dismissal.

The pro-India crowd cheered early on when Sharma was able to catch Xavier Bartlett for 17 from the second over.

But Hazlewood’s lethal line and length shocked India, reducing the tourists’ lead from five overs to 32 for 4.

The 34-year-old’s second over ended with two wickets and just one run.

When all-rounder Axar Patel was bowled out in sloppy conditions to fall to 49 for 5, India’s hopes of building a competitive total were all but extinguished.

Bartlett (2 for 39) recovered from a challenging start to dismiss Rana and Shivam Dube.

But Sharma managed to catch the Queenslander again, with 17 runs from his fourth and final over.

Nathan Ellis also bowled well and finished with figures of 2 for 21.

Before the match, a tribute took place to teenage cricketer Ben Austin, who tragically died after being hit by a ball while batting into the nets at Ferntree Gully in Melbourne’s east.

Both teams and officials observed a minute’s silence for Ben.