India chased down 209 to crush Australia in the first T20 International of a five-match series in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. This was the joint-second highest successful run chase for India in T20Is, equalling their chase against the West Indies on December 6, 2019.
India’s sensational run-chase was scripted by Suryakumar Yadav, who hammered 80 off 42 balls and Ishan Kishan, who smashed a rapid 58 against in great batting conditions. The two added 112 runs after India lost their openers early in the chase. It was a stunning display of T20 batting and showed the might of India’s new generation players.
The chase got really tricky and somehow it boiled down to the last over and finally the last ball. However, Rinky Singh kept cool and smashed the last ball for a six to seal a nail-biting victory for India
Yashasvi Jaiswal knew he needed to explode early but India lost Ruturaj Gaikwad for a diamond duck. Jaiswal called Gaikwad for a second run which was perhaps not even on and then he stopped after taking a few steps. Gaikwad was in no position to make it to safe ground and he was run out by a mile. To make matters worse, Jaiswal got carried away by his rapid start and in the process perished to Matthew Short, who was only deployed because Marcus Stoinis and Jason Behrendorff conceded more runs than their captain would have liked.
The limelight was now firmly on two Mumbai Indians teammates – Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. India were two down for not much on the board in a 209-run chase and the two batters in the middle had to bring in some serious firepower. They were watchful to start with but you feel it was the lull before the storm. While Ishan decided to dig deep, Suryakumar did Suryakumar things and pummelled Australia’s bowlers with some of the most ridiculous shots you would ever see on a cricket field. He was totally off colour in the ODI World Cup final but SKY was back in familiar territory. The No.1 T20I batter showed why he is so good and so scary. There was no way Matthew Wade could have set safe fields good enough to stop India’s newest T20I captain on a pitch where not many batters would miss out.
Ishan Kishan was the slower of the two but he was the first to get to his half-century. Ishan had played just two matches in the World Cup before making way for Shubman Gill but he had the chance to show his class on Thursday and he did it in style! There was no corner of the ground where Ishan did not send the ball to and with a batters of his caliber in that kind of mood, there was little the bowlers could do. At the other end, Suryakumar Yadav was in no mood to slow down and he sent the Aussies on a hot leather chase and roared away to a barnstorming half-century in his first match as an international captain.
Ishan Kishan clobbered 58 in a frenetic pace before he was sent back by Tanveer Sangha. But by then, Ishan had added 112 runs off 10 overs with Suryakumar Yadav to bring India on the cusp of a famous win. Australia’s bowlers appeared to be dazed and the sensational partnership revived memories of India’s magical run in the World Cup before the final defeat on Sunday.
Tanveer Sangha struck again to remove Tilak Varma but if Australia thought they could make further inroads into the Indian batting line-up, they had something else coming. Because the next man in was Rinku Singh, who came out all guns blazing even as Skipper SKY continued to destroy the Aussie bowlers. He was in sight of yet another T20I hundred but Suryakumar fell for 80 with India in sight of one of their most famous victories in T20 Internationals.
The Australian innings was highlighted by Josh Inglis, who was unstoppable after Ravi Bishoi snared Matthew Short. India did well to contain Short’s opening partner Steve Smith but Inglis launched a brutal assault on a flat pitch. There was little margin for error for the bowlers and those who erred were punished with complete disdain by Australia’s No.3. Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna leaked 91 runs in 8 overs between them as Inglis exploited poor fielding and some poor lengths from the bowlers.
Axar Patel brought some sort of sanity into proceedings but while he tried to plug the leak of runs, Ravi Bishnoi was taken to the cleaners by Jos Inglis. Those were testing times for Suryakumar Yadav, who was leading India for the first time. There were some good field changes but the fielders had a tough time and often looked ordinary in the face of Inglis’s fireworks. Bishnoi’s evening turned more sour when he dropped a return catch, missed a run-out opportunity and then fumbled in the deep. It is never easy dealing with that kind of spotlight in front of a capacity crowd.
Meanwhile, Josh Inglis spared no one. He was ruthless against the pacers and he sensed Bishnoi’s discomfort and went after the young leg-spinner, plundering 21 runs from one of his overs. It was a T20 assault of the highest order. Even after he blazed away to 94, Josh Inglis wasn’t afraid to play unorthodox shots. His maiden hundred in T20 Internationals took a mere 47 balls but Suryakumar Yadav was unfazed. Inglis fell for 110 off 50 and that was cue for a strong fightback from the Indian bowlers.
At one stage, it did look like Australia would storm past 220 but Prasidh Krishna gave away only 8 runs and picked the wicket of Jos Inglis in the 18th over. And then it was over to Mukesh Kumar, whose tight yorkers made it impossible for Marcus Stoinis and Tim David, two of the most dangerous hitters of the cricket ball, to finish with a flair. The last over of the innings yielded only four runs and India were able to restrict Australia to 208 off their 20 overs.
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