Aussies break a four-game losing streak
Brisbane, November 21: All those excited cricket fans of Indians – were left wondering what on earth goes wrong with Indians visiting Australia. Indian cricket’s local fans have always felt – when visiting Down Under, Indians find one way or the other to collapse and tonight was no exception. The big guns – Virat Kohli – 4, Rohit Sharma – 7 and KL Rahul – 13 all failed miserably and all those record books and world records made no sense when the only beacon of hope left was Shikhar Dhawan – 76. Other two to score in double digits were Pant – 20 and Karthik – 30.
Thunderstorms reduced the first T20 to a 17-a-side fixture. A shortened match required India to score174 for victory after the Aussies posted 4-158 based on the Duckworth Lewis calculations.
Indian fought back, and they looked on track with Shikhar Dhawan (76 from 42), despite the collapse of all the big guns. In the 14th over, Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant took 25 off Andrew Tye to drag themselves back into the contest.
In the final over, India needed 13 runs but sadly for the fans, lost by four runs. Marcus Stoinis was the bowler. Remarkably, Marcus not only held his nerve, but also took two wickets to close the game for India at 7-169.
With this win the Aussies have broken a four-game Twenty20 losing streak.
For Australia, Glenn Maxwell (46 from 24) and Chris Lynn (37 from 20) led the charge and put Australia on the front foot.
In his innings of 46 off 24 balls, Maxwell at one stage hit three consecutive sixes and hit the spidercam with a ‘rain-maker’ that was deemed a dead ball.
Glenn and Lynn were helped by Aaron Finch (27 from 24) and Stoinis (33 not out from 19).
Virat Kohli who has just returned to lead India after skipping the series against West Indies sent Australia to bat after winning the toss. He was very sloppy in the field, dropping a simple catch in the fourth over and misfielding later in the innings.
“Indian were sloppy in their tour opener, dropping two catches and missing a run-out of Maxwell when he was yet to hit his straps”, wrote the ABC news.
For India, if Shikha Dhawan was the hero with the bat, Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of India’s bowlers, taking 2-24 from his four overs.
Their next game is in Melbourne on Friday, 23 and the final T20 will be in Sydney on 25 November.
If you are wondering how to watch live cricket:
Fans can watch the blockbuster three-match T20 series on Foxtel via Fox Cricket, featuring no ad-breaks during play.
For the first time, fans will also be able to watch the T20 INTL series against India on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app via Kayo – a revolutionary new sports streaming product powered by FOX SPORTS, beIN SPORTS and ESPN featuring over 50 sports Live and On Demand.
For those who want to try CA’s new and revolutionary app, CA is offering a FREE 14-day trial.
To sign up for a FREE 14-day trial to Kayo, or for more information on how you can stream cricket this summer, click HERE.
In addition to the broadcast of the #AUSvIND series, live radio coverage from the ABC and Macquarie networks will also be streamed on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app.
-Vir Rajendra