The Aussies won the
first T20 match which was reduced to 17 overs for 45 minutes break due to rain
(in 17th over of the first inning). It was a humdinger match. The pendulum
swung both the ways during the match finally Aussies were able to hold their
nerve and come out on top.
Dinesh Karthik's
pulsating innings of 30(13) could not help India to cross the winning line.
Before DK's innings, as usual one of India's top 3 came out with a
blitzkrigging innings. It was Shikhar
Dhawan's innings of 76(42) which ensured that India had more than a foot in the
door in this match. However, he did not get the support from the other end.
Rohit, Rahul and Virat struggled to find their timing while Shikhar Dhawan
fluent on the other side. When Shikhar Dhawan perished, India needed 69 from 32
balls. This mountain was almost climbed by DK and Rishabh Pant with their
partnership of 51 from 24 balls. However, Rishabh Pant again threw his wicket
away with his trade mark "reverse Shovel" shot. Krunal Pandya came in
and had a poor outing (both with bat and ball). In final over with 13 needed
from it, Krunal Pandya and DK perished in back to back balls trying to find
boundary.
India's target of
174 set due to (i) Duck-worth Lewis
method; and (ii) Maxwell and Stoinis's brilliant innings. Australia had a slow
start against India's double BB (Bhuvi and Bumrah). Aussies lost their first
wicket in 5th over with only 24 on the board to a beautiful backward running
catch by Kuldeep Yadav. That was the only moment of brilliance shown by India
on the field. Subsequently there were missed catches, missed run outs and
missed fields. Aussies innings did not get going till the 11th over. With 75 on
board, Maxwell was joined by Stoinis. The duo never looked back and stitched
together partnership of 78 in 37 balls. Maxwell in specific was very
aggressive. This innings will surely help him fetch good bugs at IPL auction.
Aussies were 153-3 at 16.1 overs and the rain halted the match for 45 minutes
or so. Subsequently, the match was reduced to 17 overs and Aussies managed to
score 158 from their 17 overs. That meant India had to score 174 runs to win (as
calculated by Duckworth and Lewis method).
Finally, the
scoreline reads like
|
Aus
|
158-4
|
|
India
|
169-7
|
India lost by 4 runs
(DL method).
Try explaining the
result to your female friends / relatives. You will find it difficult to
explain that such thing can happen. That's why they say, anything can happen in
Cricket.
This win gives the
required boost to the Aussies and wake up call to India. Second match will be
really interesting to at Melbourne.
Cheers!!
when are you coming up with your test series analysis, Mr. Harvey Spector ? Btw, do you work in a firm named Shah, Spector & Litt ?
ReplyDeleteI would have really loved to come up with the analysis for test series. However, I was tied up. Could not watch the matches, hence could not post a blog on this.
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