Ranchi: Rain again played spoilsport for Australia in the opening game of the three-match T20 series against India at the JSCA Stadium here Saturday. In the first game of the ODI series preceding the T20 games, rain had also affected Australia’s chances. They lost that game and could not recover.
The same thing happened here also Saturday. Australia were 118 for eight when rain interrupted play. When it stopped, India had an easy target (set by the D/L method) of 48 in six overs to achieve. They did that easily with skipper Virat Kohli (22 n o, 14b, 3×4) hitting Dan Christian over mid-off for a boundary to take the side home with three balls to spare. Giving him company at the end was Shikhar Dhawan (15 n o, 12b, 3×4). The only batsman to be dismissed was Rohit Sharma (11), bowled by Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Earlier after being put in, the Aussie batters could not get going. Except for Aaron Finch (42, 30b, 4×4, 1×6), none of the others showed the fluency and urgency – essential ingredients of T20 cricket.
Australia started the game on the wrong foot with skipper Steve Smith ruled out of the T20 series with a shoulder injury. In his absence, David Warner led the side, but against an inspired Indian bowling attack, the Aussies were always facing an uphill task. Other than Finch, the only two other Aussie batsmen who got into double figures were Glenn Maxwell and Tim Paine (both 16 each).
Once more it was Jasprit Bumrah (2/17 off 3) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/16 off 4) who reigned in the Aussies. They were well-supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal who picked up a wicket each.
Kuldeep’s dismissal of Finch was classic in a way. The batsman played the sweep excepting a wrong ‘un from the left-arm spinner only to see the ball turn the other way and crash through the bat-pad gap into the stumps. Kuldeep’s second victim was Moises Henriques. He ran down the pitch, failing to read the spin, was beaten by the flight and the ball hit middle-stump bang on.
Overall, India looked far more superior in every department of the game than the Aussies. Time has come to decide whether this is the worst ever Aussie team to have ever toured India.
Agencies
