India on Monday defeated Western Australia by 13 runs in their practice match at Perth in the run-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup set to begin on October 17.
Opting to bat first, India posted 145 runs in 20 overs with Suryakumar Yadav top-scoring with 52 runs off 35 balls. Although openers Rohit Sharma (3) and Rishabh Pant (9) were dismissed early, the Indian middle order of Suryakumar, Deepak Hooda (22) and Dinesh Karthik (19) held on to take the team to a respectable total.
Jason Behrendorff (2/26) and Matthew Kelly (2/43) were the stars with the ball for Western Australia as they picked up two wickets apiece. Andrew Tye (1/34) and Jhye Richardson (1/18) also contributed with a wicket each.
The chase by Western Australia was disrupted early with the new ball as Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/26) sent Darcy Short (9) packing and Arshdeep Singh’s brilliant show with the ball (3/6) saw him chip in with the crucial wickets of Nick Hobson (1), Aaron Hardie (0) and Sam Fanning (59).
Bhuvneshwar also dismissed Ashton Turner (0) while Yuzvendra Chahal picked up the wicket of Cameron Bancroft (22) in order to prevent a partnership from building.
There was an attempt to recover by Sam Fanning (59 off 53) and the lower middle order consisting of Hamish McKenzie (19) and Richardson (12) but it wasn’t enough to get the team across the line.
While the bowlers returned with economical returns, Harshal Patel was rather expensive with 49 runs scored off him and the solitary wicket of Tye to show.
India will play an official warm-up match against Australia on October 17 at Brisbane. Their first match in the group stage of the T20 World Cup will be played against Pakistan on October 23.
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