The first T20 International between the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian cricket team and the Australian cricket team was a high-scoring thriller. After Josh Inglis scored a maiden T20I century for Australia to take his team to 208/3 in 20 overs, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan provided fireworks in the Indian innings. However, not all was hunky dory in the Indian innings. In the first over of the 209-run chase, there was a horrible run out as confusion reigned between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
On the fifth ball of the first over being bowled by Marcus Stoinis, Ruturaj Gaikwad got run out without facing a ball. It looked like Yashasvi Jaiswal called his fello opener for a second run and then said “no” as he reached halfway down the pitch. By then the damage had been done. What followed was nasty. Marcus Stoinis started laughng uncontrollably in Jaiswal’s direction and the India star stared back.
India’s young bowling attack got a rude reality check as a dominant Josh Inglis smoked them to all parts of the ground with a cracking century, taking Australia to a healthy 208 for 3 in the first T20 International on Thursday.
New skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s decision to bowl first on a batting featherbed turned out to be a nightmare for the inexperienced attack. They were taken to the cleaners by Inglis (110 off 50 balls), who hit as many as eight sixes, half a dozen of them off googly bowler Ravi Bishnoi.
The century, his first across international formats, came off 47 balls and there were 11 boundaries as well, including an audacious reverse sweep off pacer Arshdeep Singh (0/41 in 4 overs) and an arrogant slash over point off the same bowler. Only pacer Mukesh Kumar (0/29 in 4 overs) held his own amid onslaught from both ends.
The stockily built keeper-batter, brimming with confidence of an altogether different level, took a special liking for Bishnoi (1/54 in 4 overs), who for the first time looked exposed due to his one-dimensional skill-set of consistently bowling fast googlies, with an occasional straighter one slipped in between.
Inglis had the seasoned Steve Smith (52 off 41 balls) for company as the former skipper kept nudging and pushing apart from his eight boundaries in a stand of 130, dominated by the junior partner.
Prasidh Krishna (1/50 in 4 overs), who travelled around with the World Cup squad for a month, clearly didn’t find any rhythm as it was Smith, who first creamed him for successive boundaries and then when his end was changed by Suryakumar, the fate didn’t change as he was hit for three fours and a six by Inglis, who went on a rampage.
In fact, it was Bishnoi who drew the first blood getting Matthew Short cleaned up with a straighter one but then Inglis devised a plan that worked wonderfully well for him.
Knowing that Bishnoi primarily bowls fast googlies or just pushes one with the angle, he just moved away from stumps, hitting him over extra cover, leave aside pulling those half-trackers into the mid-wicket stands.
There were slog sweeps to fuller deliveries and Bishnoi looked out of sorts on a day when Yuzvendra Chahal, smarting after an unceremonious omission from T20I squad, took six wickets for Haryana in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the national one-day championship. Having been used to a stellar bowling show through the better part of the World Cup, the pasting that this second string attack received from Australia must have shaken the likes of Bishnoi and Krishna, both of whom had ‘half-centuries’ to their names, albeit of a different kind.
With PTI inputs
