Western Australia on Thursday defeated India by 36 runs in their second practice match at Perth in the run-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup set to begin on October 17. While India had won the first match by 13 runs on Monday, the hosts, led by Ash Turner, got the better of India in their second meeting thanks to a match-winning batting partnership between D’arcy Short and Nick Hobson and a complete bowling performance.
Batting first, Western Australia lost opener Josh Phillipe early on but Short and Hobson scored 52 and 64 respectively to help WA put a solid first innings total on the board. Even as the rest of the batters succumbed without any significant damage, they ended up posting 168 for 8.
R Ashwin was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he picked three wickets in an over and finished with bowling figures of 3/32 while Harshal Patel picked up 2 wickets for 27 runs.
For India, there was disappointment galore with the bat during the chase as all batters except skipper KL Rahul struggled to get going. During his 55-ball stay, Rahul scored 74 runs to give India some hope. However, with no partners sticking long enough, it did not prove to be enough. Matthew Kelly, Lance Morris and Hamish McKenzie picked up 2 wickets apiece for Western Australia.
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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