India produced an impressive comeback to beat Australia by 11 runs in Canberra to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
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It was a T20I debut to remember for T Natarajan, as his impressive 3/30, coupled with a sublime spell from Yuzvendra Chahal (3/25), propelled India to victory in the first T20I.
Chasing 162, Australian starters Aaron Finch and D’Arcy Short hit with determination early on, taking advantage of 14 runs in the first round. Finch fought Washington Sundar in the next over, which included five point balls, but quickly calmed down and continued the run with Short to post 53/0 on the Powerplay.
Both starters fell in the seventh over, with Manish Pandey knocking down the Australia captain in the 33rd before Virat Kohli scored what should have been an easy catch off Short on the next ball.
What followed was a dramatic turn of events, as Finch’s luck ran out shortly thereafter when Hardik Pandya pulled a shout out of the bowling alley from Chahal, who came in as a substitute for Ravindra Jadeja’s concussion after the SUV received a hit to the helmet while batting. towards the end of the Indian entries.
UPDATE: Ravindra Jadeja was hit in the helmet at the end of the first inning of the first T20I.
Yuzvendra Chahal will take the field in the second inning as a substitute for concussion. Jadeja is currently being evaluated by the BCCI medical team. #TeamIndia #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/tdzZrHpA1H
– BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2020
Chahal proved to be a valuable substitute as he eliminated Steve Smith by 12 thanks to a good catch from Sanju Samson. Natarajan then hit his second over, catching Maxwell up front early for just two.
Short joined forces with Moises Henriques and the duo headed back to Australia. In Natarajan’s next over, Henriques picked up five runs of a ball as Pandey’s attempt to hit the stumps was not picked up by Samson backing up in depth, and the ball ran towards the limit, but the rookie hit back eventually. eliminate Short. when opener went long at 34.
Australia’s chase took a big hit when they lost Henriques, trapped LBW by Deepak Chahar. The off-roader returned to the cabin after contributing a 30 of 20 balls and despite a couple of late hits from Sean Abbott and Mitchell Swepson, the hosts were only able to put together 150/7.
Earlier, sent to bat, India got off to a shaky start when Mitchell Starc produced an excellent yorker to shake off Shikhar Dhawan’s stump.
KL Rahul and Kohli (nine) then joined an important partnership, lifting India to 42/1 in the Powerplay. Next up, though, leg-thrower Swepson caught the India captain’s scalp, his first home ground, with a brilliant catch at his own bowling alley.
Samson, No. 4, looked promising early on, breaking 23 of just 15 balls before becoming Henriques’ first victim. Wickets continued to fall as India fell from 86/3 to 114/6.
Henriques added two more wickets to his account, representing Pandya (16) and Rahul (51 of 41), finishing with impressive figures of 3/22.
It was Ravindra Jadeja who gave India some late momentum as her fiery 2344 no-out ball helped her winger post 161/7, which proved to be enough for the touring team.
The two teams will meet again at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the second T20I on Sunday 6th December.
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