SYDNEY: Virat Kohli has become the first Indian skipper to win a T20I series in SENA countries — South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia — after all-rounder Hardik Pandya helped the Men in Blue chase down a target of 195 runs on Sunday.Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had led India to wins in Australia and South Africa but wasn’t able to register a series victory in New Zealand and England.The Indian skipper also became the only international captain to clinch a series (more than one match) across all formats in Australia.Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis is the only other captain to achieve the feat across formats on Australian soil but his series win in the shortest format of the game came in a one-off affair in 2018.With the win on Sunday, India gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Batting first, Australia had once again piled on the misery on Indian bowlers and the side posted a total of 194 owing to knocks of 58 and 46 from Matthew Wade and Steve Smith.No Indian bowler apart from T Natarajan was able to leave a mark in the match and dropping catches did not help the visitor’s cause.India did manage to remain on track throughout the whole chase as Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli played knocks of 52 and 40 respectively.In the final overs, Hardik (42*) and Shreyas (12*) managed to hit big shots to take Men in Blue over the line by six wickets and with two balls to spare.The dead rubber and final T20I will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.
