India versus Australia 1st T20I: Australia stun India in a high scoring thriller
The T20I World Champions Australia started the 3-match T20I series with a thrilling win over hosts India in the 1st T20I match played at PCA Stadium, Mohali on Tuesday.
Australian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to
field first. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma began off brightly with positive intent
putting pressure. Josh Hazlewood provided the breakthrough dismissing Rohit
Sharma tried to hit a big shot as Nathan Ellis took decent catch. Adam Zampa was
bought into the attack early and bowled tight over to Kohli.
Nathan Ellis dismissed Virat Kohli providing an easy catch to
Green at mid-on. Surya Kumar Yadav looked in fine touch putting pressure on the
Australian bowlers with great timing. At the end of the first six overs, India scored
46 for 2.
After the field restrictions, Surya Kumar and KL Rahul kept
the pressure on the Australian bowlers not allowing them to settle. Rahul reached
fifty off 32 balls before being caught by Nathan Ellis. Surya and KL Rahul
added 68 runs for the 3rd wicket. Hardik Pandya came to the crease
and looked in decent touch putting pressure on Australian bowlers. Cameron Green
got the crucial wicket of Surya Kumar caught by Wade to leave India in some
trouble.
Axar Patel was promoted ahead of Dinesh Karthik but fell cheaply.
Karthik was dismissed via review for LBW. The umpire gave not out but on review
it was overturned to out. Pandya looked in fine touch reaching fifty off 25
balls. Karthik and Pandya added 30 runs for the 6th wicket. He
produced the magic by hitting 3 successive sixes off Cameron Green to help the Indian team post 208 for 6 in 20 overs.
Chasing 209 runs to win, Cameron Green was asked to open the
innings for Australia and did a superb job with 4 boundaries off Umesh Yadav in
his first over. Axar Patel got a much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Finch with a
flighted delivery. Finch and Green put on 39 runs in quick time. Green showed
intent on putting pressure on the Indian bowlers. At the end of the first six overs,
Australia scored 60 for 1.
Green maintained the pressure on Indian bowlers with an attacking mindset completing fifty off 26 balls. The Indian catching was not great
as KL Rahul and Axar Patel dropped Green’s chances. Axar Patel got rid of Green
with a simple catch to Kohli at long-on. Green and Smith added 70 runs for the
2nd wicket.
Umesh Yadav dismissed both Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell in
quick succession via reviews. Both Smith and Maxwell were given not out but it
was overturned to out as there was an edge to bring back India into the match.
Josh Inglis looked in fine touch with lovely shots before
Axar Patel bowled around the legs to leave Australia on the backfoot. Matthew
Wade and debutant Tim David put enough pressure on Harshal Patel hitting him
for 22 runs in the 18th over to help Australia on course for the
chase.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar lacked confidence as he gave away 16
runs in the 19th over. Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of David caught by
Pandya at long-off. Tim David and Wade added 62 runs for the 6th
wicket. Pat Cummins hit the winning runs for a boundary to help Australia beat
India by 4 wickets with 4 balls to spare.
Australia 211 for 6 in 19.2 overs ( Cameron Green 61,
Matthew Wade 45*, Axar Patel 3/17, Umesh Yadav 2/27) beat India 208 for 6 in 20
overs ( Hardik Pandya 71*, KL Rahul 55, Nathan Ellis 3/30, Hazlewood 2/39) by 4
wickets.
For his all-around performances with 61 off 30 balls, 1 for
46, and 2 catches, Cameron Green was named the man of the match.
Australia takes a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. The second match
would be played at Nagpur on 23rd September.
Australia beat India by 4 wickets in a high-scoring 1st T20I at Mohali
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