Australia clinch a thriller thanks to a helping hand from rain

The much-awaited India tour of Australia started off with the 3 match T20I series. India walked into the ground as the favourites given the form Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul are riding on along with the bowling firepower in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav. Keeping the weather forecast in mind, skipper Kohli, on winning the toss, asked the host to bat first with no second thought.

The first half of the power play was a tight one until Chris Lynn came in and bashed the bowlers, which included the 3 sixes in an over off Khaleel Ahmed. Kuldeep Yadav came to the rescue and struck twice in successive overs and left Australia reeling at 75 for 3 in the 11th over. Australia needed Maxwell and Stoinis to get going and they did not disappoint. The duo added 78 runs thanks to a missed chance by Khaleel Ahmed.

Rain intruded into the game during the 17th over of the Australia innings. The match had to be shortened to 17 overs a side. Kohli had preserved the remaining overs of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah for the death and the over limit being reduced meant that the fourth over of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah was unused. Krunal Pandya who was being taken to the cleaners completed his full 4 overs and conceded 55 runs. Australia finished with 158 runs in 17 overs.

With the D/L method coming into play, India needed 174 to win in 17 overs. The power play saw the fall of Rohit Sharma but there was no stopping Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan was going all guns blazing as he amassed 76 runs off 42 balls. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli failed to give a lending hand to Shikhar Dhawan as they fell prey to Adam Zampa who was impressive.

The departure of Shikhar Dhawan meant the onus was on Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. The required run rate had touched 14 and India needed something special from both of them. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant rekindled some hope among the fans as they went for some big shots but Rishabh Pant got out midway because of a poor shot selection. Karthik with his street-smart cricketing skills looked all set to pull off another great win. India needed 13 runs in the last over and the fall of Dinesh Karthik dashed the chances of India’s win.

Adam Zampa was adjudged as the Man of the Match owing to his spell of 2 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs. Australia started off the tour with a win and they will be looking to continue that.