India vs Australia, First T20I: 5 unnoticed things from the match
After India tour of England earlier this year, if there was any other fixture worth waiting for, it was India tour of Australia. Gladly the wait is over. The tour began with 3-match T20I series. Australia has lost last 4 matches in this format. Surprisingly, when these two teams met last year, it was Australia who had the final laugh as they won the match convincingly courtesy brilliant spell from Jason Behrendorff.
The Gabba, Brisbane was all set for the big clash. Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field first. Darcy Short ended his painful stay at the crease to Khaleel Ahmed. The poor form with the bat for Aaron Finch continued. It was the homeboy Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell who counterattacked the Indian bowlers. Maxwell was just looking dangerous, but the rain stopped play. Australia posted a good total on the board considering the curtailed 17-over match and the help of DLS method.
In reply, India was not off to a great start as the man in form Rohit Sharma departed for a low score of 7. Shikhar Dhawan had the best day with the bat for the Men in Blue which gave the real impetus to India's chase. However, he failed to convert it once again as he was dismissed for a well made 76 of just 42 balls. Virat Kohli didn't have an ideal start to the tour as he was dismissed for a shocking single digit score.
Once again Dinesh Karthik had the onus upon himself to win it for India. But Marcus Stoinis was the saviour for Australia as he operated smartly using the slower balls to good effect. When their best bowler Andrew Tye was having a bad day, Stoinis delivered and won it for Australia. Gee! That was a close match and a fantastic start to the long tour of Australia!
Here are the 5 things you may have missed from the match.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav now has most wickets after 15 T20 innings
Undoubtedly the wrist spinners are ruling the roost in the limited overs cricket at the moment. The fact that the top 6 bowlers in the ICC T20 rankings are wrist spinners justifies it. The chinaman Kuldeep Yadav debuted for India against West Indies in 2017 and announced his mystery to the cricketing world with his deceptive googlies.
Since then he has been a regular feature for Team India in the white-ball cricket. He was mighty impressive when India toured South Africa earlier this year. He provides the wicket-taking ability for the captain in the middle overs and he has mastered it. Today he became the highest wicket taker in T20I after 15 T20 international innings. He now has taken 31 wickets after surpassing the Sri Lankan bowler Ajanta Mendis who had 29 wickets. Surely he is one for the future for Team India and many more records are destined to come his way as he continues to play for India.