It was a thrilling first game in Brisbane where the game was won only in the penultimate ball of the match as Australia took a 1-0 lead in the series after having successfully defended a target of 174. Australia made 158-4 in 17 overs after being put into bat by India, thanks largely to a brilliant 78-run partnership between Maxwell and Stoinis, but the target was revised to 174 by D/L method due to rain interruption.
Despite losing Rohit early, India started off well in the chase thanks to a wonderful innings of 76 (42) by Dhawan, but there was a mini-collapse in the middle with India losing Rahul, Kohli and Dhawan in quick succession. Dinesh Karthik made an excellent cameo 30 (13) but unfortunately could not get India over the finish line.
India take on Australia in the second T20I in Melbourne where they will be reassessing their combination ahead of the game. Krunal Pandya and Khaleel were both expensive in the last game and with no part-time options, India could be replacing one of them with Chahal for this game.
Kuldeep and Zampa were very effective in the last game and that could play a role in bringing Chahal back. Australia are expected to field the same playing XI, they might have found the solution to the fifth bowler issue with Stoinis being very effective with his fast off-cutters in the Brisbane game. Maxwell can always chip in with an over or two if needed.
Here’s the expected line up for tomorrow’s match.
India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt.), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 8 Khaleel Ahmed/Krunal Pandya, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Australia: 1 Aaron Finch (capt.), 2 D'Arcy Short, 3 Chris Lynn, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Ben McDermott, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Jason Behrendorff, 11 Billy Stanlake
Here’s our fantasy playing XI suggestion for tomorrow’s match:
Fantasy Pick:
1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Aaron Finch
4. Chris Lynn
5. Glenn Maxwell
6. Dinesh Karthik
7. Marcus Stoinis
8. Kuldeep Yadav ©
9. Adam Zampa
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Yuzvendra Chahal
Captain:
1. Kuldeep Yadav – It is a tough choice as you have so many good players to choose from. Kuldeep has been bowling really well and with big boundaries at the MCG, there is every chance that he could pick up lot of wickets (and points!) tomorrow.
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