India vs Australia,1st T20I: Player ratings
In the 1st match of their tour to Australia, India won the toss and captain Virat Kohli opted to field first taking into account the hardness of the pitch and overcast conditions. D’Arcy Short and Finch opened the batting for the Aussies. Short soon fell to Khaleel Ahmed as he tried to lift the ball down the ground and holed out to Kuldeep at mid on. Lynn then combined with Finch and entertained the home crowd with some big blows.
It was a showcase of immense muscle power and Khaleel Ahmed was destroyed with three humongous sixes in one over. Kuldeep Yadav bowled with great discipline and accounted for the wicket of Finch in his 2nd over. He then struck again in his next over dismissing the dangerous looking Lynn in the 1st ball itself. Marcus Stoinis rotated the strike and Maxwell was back to his big-hitting form as he humiliated Krunal Pandya with 23 runs in a single over. In the 16th over, when the Aussies were looking to accelerate big in the last few overs rain played spoilsport and the match was reduced to 17 overs per side. Australia posted a score of 158 at the end of 17 overs.
Under DLS, the target was revised to 174 from 17 overs. Rohit Sharma was dismissed early in the chase but KL Rahul combined with Shikhar Dhawan and built a steady partnership. Dhawan played some scintillating shots in the Powerplay and kept the chase under control. Rahul was dismissed by Zampa and Kohli disappointed the Indian fans with a rare failure with the bat. Rishabh Pant gave Dhawan decent company but the latter holed out to third man after a well made 76. Later on, Dinesh Karthik played some terrific shots and almost won the match for India. However, Krunal wasted three balls in the last over which proved to be costly as India fell short of the chase by 4 runs. Here are the player ratings for the match:
Australia
Aaron Finch - 6
Struggled to get going throughout his innings and fell to Kuldeep after mistiming a slog.
D Arcy Short –2
Another disappointing knock from Short. Mistimed quite a few deliveries before getting out for 7.
Chris Lynn - 7
Entertained his home crowd with a tremendous display of power-hitting. Looked set for a big score, but was deceived by Kuldeep’s flight and gave him a simple return catch.
Glenn Maxwell – 8
He was back to his best as he dealt with the Indian bowlers with utmost ease and punished Krunal Pandya brutally by hitting 3 consecutive sixes.
Marcus Stoinis - 7
Used his variations to good effect with the ball and played a handy innings with the bat.
Ben Mcdermott - 4
Did not contribute much in this game apart from the 2 runs in the finishing stages of the Aussie innings.
Alex Carey - 4
Solid wicketkeeping performance but did not get a chance to bat.
Andrew Tye - 3
He has been Australia’s best bowler at the death but Pant and Karthik got the better off him in this match.
Adam Zampa – 8.5
Match winning bowling performance from Zampa. The Indian batsmen struggled to pick his variations and he did not give the Indians any room to hit the ball.
Jason Behrendorff - 5
He was pretty expensive in this match but probably won the match for Australia by dismissing Dhawan.
Billy Stanlake - 7
He was economical and bowled a tight line and length throughout his spell.