Hattrick of T20I Wins Over 2nd Ranked Aussies, Indian Bowlers Join the Party

8th ranked Indian Men’s team registered their third consecutive T20I win over the second ranked Australian team as India took 1-0 lead. While Finch fought with bat, but as a captain he was unable to reduce the wobbly fielding of his team and could neither see his team chasing huge totals set by Indians as was the pattern in the 5-match ODI series which Aussies win 4-1 under Smith. For India, Kohli and Rohit were provided good support by bowlers, specially Bumrah and spinners.

Ind in Aus: Ind vs Aus T20 Record, T20I Squad for Ind, T20I Squad for Aus, ODI Squads, Schedule and Results, Ind vs Aus Bilateral ODI Series History

Match Statistics

    MOM: Kohli
    1106 runs by Kohli. 1024 by Raina makes him only the second Indian with 1000+ runs in T20I.
    10th 50 for Kohli is the maximum in T20I by any Indian.
    90* is Kohli’s highest in T20I.
    134 runs 3rd wicket partnership between Kohli and Raina is highest between India and Australia.
    6-4 lead in T20I matches by Inida vs Australia.
    3rd consecutive win vs Australia in T20I by India.

Rohit Starts, Kohli Ends, Dhoni Joins the Party
After being sent to bat at Adelaide Oval by Finch, India started strongly as Rohit Sharma’s quick fire 20-ball 31 runs ( 4 4s 1 six) took them to 40 runs in 4 overs. Watson returned from long exile to bowl the 5th over that first sent Rohit and then Dhawan back to pavillion. Dhawan was again struggling, much like his ODI performance. Kohli and Raina joined hands and after some slow running between the wickets gathered momentum, specially doe to Kohli as Raina remained subdued till the last over when he was bowled by Faulkner. They did add 134 runs for third wicket, the biggest partnership in Australia vs India T20I history of 10 matches now. Kohli in the meanwhile raced to 55-ball unbeaten 90 runs. Joining him for the last four ballls, Captain Dhoni struck first ball six that was followed by a four and remained unbeaten on 3-ball 11 runs as India scored 188/3.

While the returning Shaun Tait had to complete his most expensive T20I spell with 0/45, another returning star Shane Watson impressed with ball by putting rampaging Indians on backfoot for some time sending both openers in his first over, 5th of the innings. Watson finished with 2/24 in 4 overs. Faulkner had 1/43, Richardson 0/41, while Boyce 0/23 in 3 and Head 0/9 in 1 could not help the AUssie cause much as Kohli went on rampage.

Aussies Fail, Bowlers Strike
Aussie captain Finch and Warner started a strong response tearing apart Nehra and Ashwin, scoring 47 runs in first 5 overs. But, Bumrah, who impressed in the last ODI, got Warner (9-ball 17 runs), to provide the breakthrough. Arrival of Smith saw run flowing as he scored 14-ball 21 runs. As Aussies reached 89 in 9.1, Jadeja and Ashwin, killed the chase with wickets of Smith and then Finch (33-ball 44 runs) in consecutive overs. Jadeja added wicket of Head too in consecutive overs and as Ashwin sent Watson back in 14th over score read 110/5 and from then on it was just a matter of time. Lynn (17) and Wade (5) became the prey of debutant Pandya. Nehra grabbed Richardson (9), while Faulkner (10) and Boyce (3) were other two victims of Bumrah. It was an easy win for Indians in the end as Aussies were folded for 151 in 19.3 overs.

Ashwin had a forgettable over when he opened bowling the second over of the innings. But, he showed his class as he finished with 2/28. Jadeja was the deciding factor and most economical of the match with 2/21, while Bumrah with 3/23 in 3.3 was the one who broke the strong going opening partnership. Nehra (/130), debutant Pandya 2/37 in 3 overs impressed too in the later phase.

Kohli, Bumrah and Spinners
While Kohli was deservingly the player of the match, it was the bowlers who made the win look so comprehensive. Remember the bowling unit has failed continuously for first 4 ODIs in restricting the Aussies unless Bumrah arrived in the last ODI. Bumrah was again the difference as he made the first breakthrough and later sent Faulkner back too. But, Jadeja and Ashwin supported by Pandya and Nehra controlled the game after 9th over. None of the Aussies could bat freely.

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