It was another solid team performance by team India in the first T20I beating Australia by 9 wickets via D/L method. Both teams will face each other at newly constructed Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati that will take place tomorrow. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field at Ranchi. The Indian bowlers did not allow the Australian batsmen to score runs easily. Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya all picked wickets and restricted Australia to just 118 for 8 in 18.4 overs before the rain arrived.
India was given a target of 48 runs in 6 overs. Rohit Sharma was dismissed early for 11 runs. Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli played with positive intent, chased down the target with 3 balls to spare. Dhawan was playing his first international match after some time. Kohli again showed his class with good stroke play. Jasprit Bumrah also bowled with great control in the death overs.
Australia struggled against the Indian bowlers especially the spin twins of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Aaron Finch was the top scorer for the visitors with 42 runs while rest of batting order failed to contribute much. Their bowling also struggled to restrict this Indian team.
The second T20I might see India retain the same XI that was played in Ranchi. Team India has won 7 successive T20I matches against Australia and would be looking to continue their winning run.
Australia batsmen must score big runs against this Indian attack. It was a poor batting display again after scoring 49 runs in the first six overs. Maxwell failed to score big runs only scoring 17. Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Daniel Christian did not make use of good start. If Australia needs to make a comeback, they need to play their best cricket as a unit.
They can bring Kane Richardson who bowls well at the death overs. Australia has struggled against the Indian spinners in ODI series and also the first T20I. It would be a big ask for the visitors to put pressure on this Indian team. David Warner must lead from the front and play with positive intent in the opening position.
