In their 2nd T20 WC Warm-Up Match, India defeated Australia by 8 wickets with 13 balls to go. The Indian opening batsmen, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, handed the ‘Men in Blue’ a great start at the top of the lineup, setting a target of 153.
In 9.2 overs, Rohit and Rahul collaborated on a 68-run stand for the first wicket. In the 10th over of the innings, Ashton Agar dismissed Rahul, however, Suryakumar Yadav as well as the ‘Hitman’ proceeded to punish the Australians. For the 2nd wicket, the duo put on a 59-run stand.
Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav stepped in after Rohit Sharma was ‘retired injured’ and put the final flourishes on India’s easy passage beyond the goal. For Australia, Ashton Agar was the sole bowler who took wickets with the ball.
Maxwell and Stoinis effectively supported Smith
The Australian team got off to a bad start with the bat as they used the willow initially. Within the first four overs, the Australian batters were dropped to 11/3, and the Indian bowlers were around them.
But again, with the bat, Steve Smith came through for the kangaroos. The right-hander hammered off a solid 48-ball 57 which helped the team to be alive. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis effectively supported Smith.
Though Maxwell made a 28-ball 37, Stoinis smashed a 41* at a fantastic strike rate of 164.00. Ravichandran Ashwin was India’s first-choice spinner with the ball. In the two overs he bowled, the right-arm off-spinner took two wickets and gave up just eight runs. With the exception of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rahul Chahar each took a wicket.
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