India vs Australia T20I (IND vs AUS) Highlights: Australia won the first T20 International at Mohali by four wickets.
India vs Australia T20I | Cameron Green scored 61 runs, and Matthew Wade provided the late charge in Australia‘s four-wicket victory over India in the first Twenty20 International on Tuesday.
Cameron Green’s blistering innings, combined with Matthew Wade’s unbeaten 45 off 21 balls, aided the Kangaroos to a four-ball victory.
The match between world champions Australia and current number one India was a high-scoring affair that the tourists won with four balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
After being put into bat at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, Hardik Pandya’s 71 off 30 balls propelled India to an impressive 208-6, their highest score against Australia.
The hosts lost skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli within the first five overs, but K.L. Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav held the innings together with a 68-run stand.
Rahul scored 55 runs to help India reach 86-2 at the halfway point of their innings.
After both fell quickly, India risked losing momentum, but Pandya produced a brilliant knock that included five sixes and seven fours.
The all-rounder raced to a fifty off 25 balls and finished with a hat-trick of sixes off Green’s 21-run final over.
Nathan Ellis (3-30) was Australia’s standout bowler, and he also took two catches to send Rohit and Rahul back.
Australia’s intent was signalled by Aaron Finch (22) hitting the first ball of their innings for a six, but he could not convert the start.
Green hit four sixes off a dropped catch to help Australia reach 109-1 at the 10-over mark before their top order collapsed.
Green was stuck behind in a slog sweep attempt against Axar Patel (3-17), and Umesh Yadav returned after allowing 16 runs in his first over to dismiss Steve Smith (35) and Glenn Maxwell (35) in the same over.
Wade and Tim David combined for 22 runs from Harshal Patel’s 18th over to turn the match on its head.
Singapore-born David left after making 18 on his Australia debut, but Wade stayed on to score 45, not out off 21 balls, to secure the victory.
India dropped three catches and had to bowl in the final overs.
On Friday, the teams will travel to Nagpur for the second match.
Players & Captain Thoughts After India vs Australia T20I 1st Match | Cricket Highlights
Cameron Green | Player of the Match: I threw into the deep end for the first time (opening for the first time), but having someone like Finchy as an experienced campaigner kept me calm.
We had the opportunity to watch the Indians bat, and Hardik must be among the best at what he does; it was a pleasure to watch him.
It was fun to watch them bat because it gave us ideas for how to move around while chasing. (Whether he will continue to bat as an opener) I have no idea; I’ll leave that to the coaches.
Matthew Wade: I want to make it a habit (of finishing games). It’s been a good 12-18 months; I started putting some scores together and formed a partnership with Tim David today; he’s moved down the list with those (finishing) roles.
It’s great to have some youth and power like him, as it gives me time to get started.
It didn’t matter too much at this ground (to get going from the first ball); anywhere between 10-14 runs per over with wickets in hand,
we could probably chase it down; obviously, the guys at the top of the order got us off to a great start.
You have to work where they’re going to bowl; they went wide yorker with a cover, and I didn’t want to drag it too far to the leg-side, and I sat a little deeper for the slower balls.
When I have four fielders back on the leg-side, I can’t just swing to the leg-side; I have to play some shots on the off-side.
Green would always open, so it was nice to see him do so. He is a very exciting all-rounder who will also play with the ball.
There were some crucial roles during that early period, and Smith performed admirably to keep the pressure on.
Aaron Finch | Australia’s Captain: Wasn’t it a fun competition? We had some excellent partnerships, and there were some good bat-and-ball battles. They pounced on us.
You can expect the run rate to slow down if you lose wickets. The batters attempted to change the game’s momentum. That is why we play, and we continue to try to instil all of the processes leading up to the World Cup.
Indian Captain Rohit Sharma: We didn’t bowl very well. We didn’t take our chances on the field, so 200 is an excellent score to defend.
Our batters put in a valiant effort, but our bowlers fell short. We need to look into some things, but it was a fantastic game to figure out what went wrong.
We are aware that this is a high-scoring area. Even if you get 200, you can’t relax. We took some wickets, but they played well.
They made some spectacular shots. I’d expect to chase that total if I were in that changing room. You have a good chance of defending 60 runs in the final four overs.
Unfortunately, we were unable to secure the extra wicket. That was the turning point; things would have been different if we had taken another door.
You can’t hit 200 every day, so you have to bat well. Hardik batted superbly to get us there. Before the next game, we need to assess our bowling.