India produced a brilliant all-round effort to defeat defending champions Australia by 6 runs in a thriller of a match in Brisbane on Monday for the first of two official warm-up matches ahead of the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Having won the toss, Aaron Finch and Co. put India to bat first. KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav posted match-winning half centuries in a total of 186/7. India’s bowling display, that had been especially poor at death off-late, was effective today at critical points. Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel and Mohammad Shami all had their moments to chip in regular wickets to seal the deal.
The final word belonged to Shami, who bowled a final over (his only over) that read: 2, 2, W, W (runout), W, W to back up a good 19th over by Harshal.
In the first innings, the first three overs saw Rahul dominate the strike, facing 16 out of 18 balls to reach 23, with India reaching 27/0. Rohit Sharma was on 0 off 2. He played some delightful strokes square on the offside and legside, the highlight being a six off Pat Cummins over square leg.
The fourth over saw him go 4-0-6-4-2-4 against Marcus Stoinis to move to 43 off 22 balls. Rohit got off the mark in the fifth over. Except for a blow to the helmet off a bouncer, the opener looked in complete control. He reached a half century off just 27 balls before the powerplay ended. Rohit then took on Glenn Maxwell for a six and four, as India scored 69/0 at the end of 6 overs.
Maxwell then ended a fine innings by Rahul as he fell for 57 off 33 balls. Short ball, Rahul pulled to deep midwicket where Ashton Agar was waiting. Rohit followed soon after as roles reversed with Maxwell taking the catch off Agar’s bowling.
Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav put on a brief but entertaining stand of 42 runs for the third wicket, not compromising on the scoring rate. They took 17 runs off an Ashton Agar over. Kohli smashed a superb drive down the ground but was bounced out next ball by Mitchell Starc, and was dismissed for 19 off 13 balls.
Dinesh Karthik then fell for 20 off 14 balls, trying to move through the gears. Richardson struck as the Indian wicketkeeper found Maxwell at deep midwicket, the longer boundaries accounting for another batter. Suryakumar Yadav was joined by Axar Patel.
The Mumbai batter, who has been in great form in recent times, played another delightful hand, pinging the boundaries around the field. A six down the ground off Cummins was the highlight but like Rahul, he too had a moment of concern with a hit on the helmet.
Continuing to bat, Suryakumar reached a 32-ball half century but fell to a full toss next ball in the last over. Ashwin smashed a six but was out off the last ball of the innings as Kane Richardson finished with 4/30. India posted 186/7.
Mitchell Marsh (35 off 18) and skipper Aaron Finch gave a solid 64-run opening stand before the former was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Steve Smith (11) never really got going and as a result, was dismissed soon enough by Yuzvendra Chahal. While Glenn Maxwell seemed like he was determined to play second fiddle to the well-set Finch, Bhuvneshwar got his second with a good length delivery outside off. Meanwhile, change of pace from Arshdeep ended up rewarding him with his first wicket as he sent back Marcus Stoinis for 5.
What followed next was an eventful bowling display at the death from India wherein Australia lost a cluster of wickets and dented their chances further. Tim David (5) was on the receiving end of a brilliant direct hit from Kohli. He produced yet another instance of stunning fielding when he took a one-handed screamer in the deep to dismiss Pat Cummins for 7 off Mohammad Shami, who was brought on to bowl the solitary final over.
Watch: Virat Kohli’s stunning runout and one-handed catch in T20 World Cup warm-up vs Australia
Playing an international T20 game after nearly 12 months, Shami picked up 3/4 as he assured that his yorkers still exude confidence. He picked up the wickets of Cummins, Josh Inglis (1) and Kane Richardson (0) but also ran out Ashton Agar for nought.
Talking about the game-plan about giving Shami the solitary over, captain Rohit said, “He’s coming back after a long time, we wanted to just give him an over. This was always the plan, that he comes in and bowls at the death. We know how lethal he can be with the new ball, just wanted to give him a little bit of challenge bowling that last over and you can see what he did.”
India next take on New Zealand in their second warm-up match at Brisbane on Wednesday, October 19.
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