Australia vs India 2018-19: Hosts' thrilling victory in 1st T20I has flipped the script
India's tour of Australia has started with a bang, producing a thriller in the very first match. While the visitors ended up on the losing side, there were plenty of encouraging signs that this series will be extremely competitive.
The start was sedate for Australia after they were inserted to bat by Virat Kohli. D'Arcy Short didn't get going and fell to Khaleel in the fifth over. But then Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn began to break the shackles and India were pushed onto the back foot.
Kuldeep Yadav came on to bowl and immediately strangulated the run-flow with his box of tricks, and prized out both Finch and Lynn in successive overs. But the rain too didn't want to be left out and we had a delay which reduced the match to 17 overs per side.
A dismal performance by the two latest finds in Indian cricket, Khaleel Ahmed and Krunal Pandya, yielding economy rates of 14 and 13.75 respectively, gave the Aussies a strong finish to their innings. Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis compiled 37 (20), 46 (24) and 33 (19) respectively to propel the Australian total towards respectability.
The hosts finished with 158 in their 17 overs but with the DLS coming in play the target for the visitors was 174 in 17 overs.
In reply, India lost Rohit Sharma early and except Shikhar Dhawan none of the players from the top order got going. KL Rahul and Kohli managed just 13 and 4 respectively in an important chase.
Indian fans lost all hope when Dhawan departed for 76, but Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik steadied the ship by scoring 47 runs from just 3 overs. Karthik, who threatened to do a repeat of his most famous T20 knock from the Nidahas Trophy, and who was responsible for bringing this chase back to life through his part in Andrew Tye's demolition, eventually perished for 30 off 13 balls.
Adam Zampa bowled a brilliant spell to turn the game in the hosts' favor, yielding just 22 in his 4 overs.
With 13 required from the last over, Stoinis sealed the deal for his team with his slower bouncers, scalping Karthik and Krunal Pandya and yielding only 8 runs.
Australia have broken their losing run in T20Is and have probably presented a wake-up call to India. Kohli's men now know that you can't take any Australian team lightly, even without Smith and Warner and some of their frontline pacers.
India will have a lot to prove in the next game that takes place on Friday. Until then, Australia can cherish their deserving victory.