Chasing a humungous 202 runs to win, Yuvraj Singh fired India to a six-wicket victory in 19.4 overs with a stunning knock of 77* runs off just 35 deliveries in the only T20 match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.As comfortable as it may look, India did not start off the chase in an encouraging way. With the exception of Rohit Sharma, who fell victim to an out-swinger from Clint Mckay for just 8 runs to his name, all the other top 4 batsmen managed to get a start. Much to the disappointment of the fans who had gathered, none of Shikhar Dhawan (32 off 19), Suresh Raina (13-ball 19) and Virat Kohli (29-ball 22) were unable to convert it into big scores.
While Raina top edged Nathan Coulter-Nile to Shane Watson at midwicket, Dhawan was stumped – foxed by a shorter length delivery from Doherty. Mckay picked up his second when Kohli holed out at wide log-on. MS Dhoni joined Yuraj Singh with India needing 102 runs of the last 53 deliveries.
It was looking a bit tricky for the home team as Yuvraj Singh was on a comeback trail. One would have thought India were in need of a typical ‘Dhoni special’ to entertain any hopes of winning the match. But Dhoni (24* off 21) was only as much an onlooker as the fans were, to what followed. Yuvraj Singh took 16 runs of Mckay and 11 of Coulter-Nile in the 14th and 15th over of the innings to keep the match afloat.
The southpaw, who looked as good as he has ever been with his monstrous six-hitting abilities, then sealed the victory by tearing apart James Faulkner, who conceded 19 runs off the 17th over.
Earlier in the evening, winning the toss, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni put Australia into bat first on a track that was expected to have plenty of runs on offer. While India welcomed back Yuvraj Singh into the set-up, Australia handed out the 21-year-old New South Wales batsman Nic Maddinson his first international debut.
Australian openers Aaron Finch and Nic Maddinson were off to a flier scoring 56 runs in just 4.5 overs. Dhoni’s ploy of introducing Ravichandran Ashwin early into the innings backfired, as the off-spinner was taken for 17 runs in the 3rd over of the match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave the much needed breakthrough by sending back Maddinson, bowled attempting an ugly swipe, for a 16-ball 34.
Finch was in no mood to slow down despite the loss of Shane Watson and George Bailey courtesy of the double blow delivered by Vinay Kumar to reduce Australia to 84/3 in 7.5 overs. In Maxwell, Finch found an able partner who made sure that the initiative was not ceded back to the home team.
Ashwin’s horror outing continued as he exceeded his first over offering by 4 runs in his second. If it was Finch in the first over, it turned out to be Maxwell in the second who feasted on the Tamil Nadu spinner.
The Maxwell-blitz was short lived as he holed out at long-on for a 13-ball 27. Although the batsmen who followed failed to make any worthwhile contribution, Finch’s 52-ball 89 made sure that the visitors posted an imposing score of 201 on the board.
Vinay Kumar, who returned to account for Finch with a terrific return catch, was particularly impressive while Bhuvneshwar had a decent outing picking up three wickets.
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