Team India managed to clinch their eighth successive T20I win this year when they got the better of hosts Australia in the first T20I of the three-match series Down Under. Despite racking up a below-par 161 at Canberra, the visitors, led by concussion substitute Yuzvendra Chahal, were clinical as they restricted the Aussies to just 150, despite a quick opening stand by the hosts. Team India are yet to lose a T20I this year.
Washington Sundar and Chahal were the stars of the show as they combined to pick up 3 wickets between them in eight overs, while conceding just 41 runs, including 20 dot balls. Sundar, who has become Virat Kohli’s go-to bowler in the first six overs ended with figures of 0 for 9 in his first 2 overs that he sent down in the powerplay. He was ably supported by Chahal and T Natarajan, who had a debut to remember, finishing with figures of 3 for 25.
There was enough controversy in the game as Chahal walked into the game as a concussion sub after Ravindra Jadeja, who had scored a fine cameo with the bat, was hit on the head in the first innings. The ICC rules state that only a like-for-like player can come in as a sub in case of a concussion, and Chahal’s name as the replacement did not go down well with Aussie head coach Justin Langer.
Source: Twitter (BCCI)
The all-rounder was suffering from a hamstring injury as well during his batting innings, which might have led Langer to believe that India were taking undue advantage of the concussion rule. Chahal walked away with the Man of the Match award for his 3 overs, which would have further added salt on Langer’s wounds.
Earlier, Team India did not get off to the greatest start as Shikhar Dhawan fell early. The side played as many as 15 dots in the first six overs, in which they managed to score 42 for 1. Despite KL Rahul smashing a quick fifty, the Indian innings never found momentum till Jadeja and Hardik Pandya got together. India had lost 3 wickets in the span of 17 balls when the two dangerous batsmen got together in the middle of the 14th over. The left-hander was the aggressor as he took apart Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to take India to a score of more than 160.
Jadeja eventually ended with an unbeaten 44 that came in 23 balls.
Brief Scores: India 161/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 51, Ravindra Jadeja 44*; Moises Henriques 3-22) beat Australia 150/7 (Aaron Finch 35, D’Arcy Short 34; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-25, T Natarajan 3-30) by 11 runs