India beat Australia by 37 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the T20I series at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. Virat Kohli was named the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 90 from just 55 deliveries.
Set 189 to win, Aaron Finch and David Warner got the hosts off a brilliant start, putting on 47 for the first wicket before Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the latter for 17 (9). Steve Smith joined Finch in the middle and at 89/1 after 8.5 overs, the Australians looked to be in complete control of the chase.
That was when Ravindra Jadeja struck, getting Australia’s number three caught at cover for 21. The 2010 World T20 runners-up would go on to lose 3 wickets for just 4 runs, as Finch and Travis Head were adjudged leg-before-wicket in quick succession.
Jadeja was brilliant for the MS Dhoni-led team, picking up figures of 2/21 in his 4 overs. Jadeja’s spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin was also impressive as the duo put the brakes on the Australian innings in the middle overs.
Ashwin started out very poorly, conceding 17 runs in his first over as he was introduced by Dhoni during the Powerplay. But the Tamil Nadu off-spinner came back strongly to finish with figures of 2/28.
Bumrah continued from where he left off in the final ODI on Saturday and ended with impressive figures of 3/23. Hardik Pandya, after conceding 19 runs in his first over which included 5 wides, came back strongly and picked up the crucial wickets of Chris Lynn and Matthew Wade.
Ashish Nehra, making a comeback after 5 years, put in a solid performance as well – picking up 1 wicket for 30 runs in his 4 overs.
Earlier, Kohli was the star of the show with the bat for the Indians, scoring a fluent unbeaten 90. The 27-year-old hit 9 fours and 2 sixes while registering his highest individual score in a T20I innings.
Rohit Sharma, living a charmed life, got India off to a brisk start – scoring 31 from just 21 balls. Dhawan struggled to get going and when both openers were dismissed by Watson in the 5th over, India were in a spot of bother at 41/2.
Suresh Raina, returning to the team after being dropped from the ODI team, played a very good second fiddle to Kohli with a 34-ball 41. The duo put on 134 runs for the third wicket which is India’s third highest partnership in T20Is ever.
Dhoni finished the Indian innings in style, scoring 11 runs from the 3 deliveries he faced.
Brief Scores:
India 188/3, 20 overs (Kohli 90*, Raina 41; Watson 2/24)
beat
Australia 151 all out, 19.3 overs (Finch 44; Bumrah 3/23, Jadeja 2/21)
