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Rinku finishes off thrilling chase (India vs Australia, 1st T20I)
Suryakumar Yadav’s sublime 80 combined with cameos from Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh have helped India to a two wicket win. Less than a week after India and Australia met in the final of the Cricket World Cup, in which Pat Cummins and Co helped the Aussies claim their sixth World Cup title, the two teams are back in action at Visakhapatnam.
Josh Inglis smashed a 50-ball 110 and propelled Australia to a score of 208/3. Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to bowl in his first match as India captain. Australia have rested a number of their World Cup winners but Steve Smith has opened the batting and is off to a flying start. His scoring was eventually curtailed while opening partner Matthew Short fell to Ravi Bishnoi but Josh Inglis has since taken the game by the horns. He blasted a half-century in just 29 balls with Smith holding up the other end. The pair ended up putting 130 runs off just 66 balls for the second wicket, with Smith scoring just 36 off 23 in that. Smith eventually fell on 52 off 41 and Inglis then crossed his century in just 47 balls, equaling Aaron Finch’s record for the fastest T20I century by an Australian.
India got off to a shaky start but they came roaring back thanks to Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan. The pair put up 112 runs in just 60 balls for the third wicket. Kishan fell for 58 off 39 but Suryakumar has soldiered on since then. Tilak Varma fell after a quickfire 12 and now, Rinku Singh has got off to a flying start. It came down to India needing seven to win off the last over. It looked like India would do it easy when Rinku hit the first ball for four. The batters ran a leg-bye second ball but Axar Patel was then dismissed, which suddenly made the game a thriller. India ended up requiring one run to win off the last ball with Rinku on strike. He hit it for a six but Sean Abbott had overstepped and so, only the one run that came due to the no-ball was counted. Rinku finished off on 22 off 14. Suryakumar had earlier scored 80 off 42. India surpassed their own record for highest successful T20I run chase and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Both teams will look much different than the World Cup sides, with many players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood. In the absence of injured Jasprit Bumrah, India will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, while Ruturaj Gaikwad will be his deputy for the first threw games.
The series will be mark the start of both teams’ preparations for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in June next year.
