AUS VS IND - 2nd T20I, India tour of Australia, 2018-19

STAT: India's run of seven consecutive T20I series wins comes to an end. Started after the abandoned T20I against Australia in Hyderabad last year (series shared 1-1) and ends with the no-result at MCG.

21:59 Local Time: Handshakes, the game has been called off! Phew! India will feel they have robbed of a great chance to level the series. They would have backed themselves to hunt down 137 in 19 overs. Australia are smiling, they might well have escaped here. But with rain falling on the pitch, they would have fancied their chances with a few early wickets as well. Australia now can't lose this series. India did extremely well with the ball. Things could have been worse for the hosts, but for McDermott and Coulter-Nile. It was so good to watch the Indian pacers operate and now we all await the finale of the 3-match series at the SCG on Sunday. The game begins at 18:50 local time. See you all there!

21:52 Local Time: The players were warming up, but the drizzle had made a visit again. The covers are back on and I am afraid this is not looking good. Just about ten more minutes for the cut-off time. It seems unlikely that this game will restart. In case we have a game, play will begin at 22:02 with India needing 46 runs from 5 overs.

21:41 Local Time: Looks like the covers are being removed again. We have already lost an over, may well be a 9-over chase if it starts in the next five odd minutes.

21:35 Local Time: Australia are in their huddle on the sidelines. And out they go on the park for the second innings. Oh dear! The rain has returned again. Shake of the head with a smile from KL Rahul as he takes cover in the dug-out. Rohit and Shikhar have had to go back with their gears on. Every four minutes, we will be losing an over from here. I am assuming, somewhere around 22:01 would be the cut-off time for a 5-over chase.

21:30 Local Time: Interestingly, the umpires, Aaron Finch and a couple of the Indian team support staff are having a chat. It was reported that India have 18 overs to chase, but it is highly unlikely with the amount of time lost. We will get the official confirmation shortly. Okay, target for India is 90 in 11 overs. Play to begin in seven minutes.

21:15 Local Time: Rain has stopped and the covers are being removed. Reckon if there's no more rain, we might get a 12 or 13 over chase. In that case, the revised target for India will be somewhere around 100

21:00 Local Time: It's drizzling again and the chase will not start at least for a while. The players were ready, but rain wanted to have a bit of fun. We are losing overs now and the rain is getting heavier

20:54 Local Time Rain has stopped, the covers are coming off and we are hearing that India will be chasing a DLS adjusted score of 137 from 19 overs. Will confirm it in a while. Play will start at 9:03 PM. Yes, the target for India is 137 from 19 overs

20:35 Local Time: We have a starting time now. Play will start at 8:43 pm and Australia will get to face the final over. Scratch the update.. the rain is back and the covers are back in place.

20:28 Local Time: Looks like it was just a short passing shower. The covers are being peeled off at the 'G', Cricket Australia have tweeted. We might still have a 20-20 contest..

Harsh: How can Kohli (or any captain), keep their best bowlers for the last, and keep bowling weaker bowlers, when they are bowling at the tail with rain around the corner - time and again? It is silly!

20:18 Local Time: The rain is too heavy and play has been suspended. Think this might be the end of Australia's innings. The covers are in place and I reckon this might be a pretty long delay. The innings never got started, Finch was dismissed in the first over, a couple of tough chances were shelled, but neither Lynn nor Darcy Short made most of it. Stoinis was dismissed cheaply and when Maxwell fell, Australia threatened to implode. McDermott though had other ideas, kept picking the ones and twos, had decent stands with Coulter-Nile and Andrew Tye, and ensured that the hosts have a respectable score on the board. Two wickets each for Bhuvneshwar and Khaleel, but the latter was expensive. The spinners did a fair job and India will be reasonably happy to chase this score down - when play resumes.

Bumrah to McDermott, FOUR, lovely shot, the key was that he watched the ball late, this was full and this was tailing back into the right-hander, McDermott backed away, opens the face of the bat at the last moment, used Bumrah's pace and guided it past the keeper for a boundary

Bumrah to McDermott, no run, lovely yorker, came from wide of the crease and angled it into the right-hander, right underneath McDermott's swinging blade, can't do much with those

Bumrah to Tye, 1 run, short of a good length and skidding onto the batsman, chopped in front of square on the off-side for a single

Kohli looks agitated, he doesn't want play to continue and has a word with the umpire

Bumrah to Tye, no run, short of a good length and well wide of off, Tye was looking to crack it over point and missed

It has started to rain at the 'G', getting heavier by the moment and the umbreallas are going up

Bumrah to Tye, no run, clever change of pace, slips in the slower ball and the line is just outside off, Tye was deep in his crease as he slugged at that and missed

Bumrah to Tye, no run, short of a length and well outside off, Tye slashed at that and missed