India earned an 11-race win on Friday.
As is often the case, if Indian batsmen don’t understand you, their spinners will. Australia found it the hardest in the first T20I among the teams in Canberra, losing their way after holding India at 161 and racking up a quick fifty-race start in response.
India, as a result of this 11-race victory at the Manuka Oval, achieved its eighth consecutive victory in the T20I, its longest winning streak so far. They also have to lose a T20I this year (Won: 8, NR: 1).
So what exactly did the spinners do?
Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal, who only entered the game in the second inning as a concussion substitute for Ravindra Jadeja, combined to pick 3 of 41 in their eight overs, which also included 20 point balls.
Sundar, with powerful playing figures of 2-0-9-0, did some damage control at the top, while Chahal, with ample support from T Natarajan, first broke the starting position of 56 runs before finish 3 of 25. He used his slow and wide balls to put the long limits of Manuka Oval into play.
Kohli later brought in Sundar (4-0-16-0) for a one-off just after Natarajan chose the crucial grounds of Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short, not allowing Australia an inch and increasing pressure from both ends. That’s where Australia’s chase fell apart on a par. They never got momentum after Chahal chose the first pair of grounds.
What is the controversy surrounding Chahal?
It couldn’t be more poetic than a substitute for a concussion that takes the Man of the Match award. But India’s move to replace Ravindra Jadeja, who was hit in the head in the twenty-second, with Chahal did not sit well with Justin Langer and by extension Australia. Jadeja was visibly struggling with a suspected hamstring towards the end of India’s innings, but a blow to the head meant substituting for the complexities of the concussion was an option.
What it meant for India was four overs by Chahal, India’s top leg runner out of this game after a cold ODI series, and Australia just didn’t have a way around that.
The run-chase start for Australia was ____
Perfect.
A 56-run starting position when Kohli was wrong in his tactic early on, adding to his frustration at what looked like an improved pitch for batting. Deepak Chahar, known for throwing more into powerplay than anywhere else, swung with his first ball, but simply threw the new ball. And Sundar’s frugal bowling effort up front was more than made up for by Mohammed Shami’s normal day; he conceded 0 of 21 in the power play before finishing 4-0-46-0.
India also had a varied day in the field. Virat Kohli dropped Short and Manish Pandey dropped Finch, both coming off consecutive deliveries in the seventh of innings, pitched by Deepak Chahar. But India also bounced back with fantastic deep catches from Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson, allowing Chahal to pick the first pair of wickets.
How were the tickets from India?
Slow from the start.
Shikhar Dhawan fell early to a beautiful overcomer from Mitchell Starc, so the starting tier India likes to build on never came. They would play up to 15 points in the power play, meaning that despite KL Rahul’s fifty of 37 balls, India was behind the eight ball with just 42/1 in its first six. Australia, by comparison, was 53/0 after six overs.
What hurt India even more in the middle were the overs from Moises Henriques. The all-rounder, Aaron Finch’s sixth bowling option of the day, used his slower balls well; and Sanju Samson, Pandya and Kl Rahul fell prey to him. At the other end, Adam Zampa kept the lines tight, conceding 1 of 20. It didn’t help that Virat Kohli had another cold start, getting caught and thrown at 9 to Mitchell Swepson’s quick long jump.
So how did India achieve 162?
It was thanks to Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 44 * on 23 balls, his highest T20I score and the highest score of an Indian hitting at No. 7 or less.
The visitors had lost 6/3 on the last 17 balls when Jadeja joined Hardik Pandya in the middle in the 14th. He looked set for an ODI encore just a few days ago until Moises Henriques picked his third wicket and saw Pandya’s back in shape. That’s when Jadeja took over and collected 23 runs from Josh Hazlewood’s last over, also the 19th of the innings. He hit three fours and six in that over before another pair of limits against Mitchell Starc in the last over, which took India’s score above 160.
Tell me about the India team changes
I can’t mention that. The omission of Yuzvendra Chahal should be pretty clear by now, but India also put Jasprit Bumrah to rest and chose Manish Pandey over Shreyas Iyer for No. 4. T Natarajan received a T20I debut while Mayank Agarwal, coming from a good IPL, he was out again. .
From here
Back to the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Australia has been more comfortable, and India not so much. The second T20I will be played on Sunday.
Brief scores: India 161/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 51, Ravindra Jadeja 44 *; Moises Henriques 3-22) won Australia 150/7 (Aaron Finch 35, D’Arcy Short 34; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-25, T Natarajan 3-30) by 11 races
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