Australia beat India by 4 runs (D/L Method) in 1st T20

ONI Bureau: Rains played the spoilsport yet again, as India lost the first T20 game against Australia in a weird manner through D/L method. Australia not only broke their losing run in T20s, but also served a wake-up call to India.

Earlier, Australia posted 158/4 in 17 overs when rain stopped play. Glenn Maxwell (46), Aaron Finch (27), Chris Lynn (37) and Marcus Stoinis (33*) were the top scorers. Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets.

The target was revised to 174 in 17 overs for India under the D/L system. India fought well, but faltered in the last two overs. They needed 13 runs in the final over, but lost two wickets and managed to score just 8 runs. Karthik’s dismissal in the last over was the turning point. After Karthik and Pant hit 25 runs off the 14th over, India needed 35 runs from 3 overs. But, Aussies bounced back to deny India a win.

India finished at 169/7 in 17 overs. Shikhar Dhawan was the top scorer at 76, while Rishabh Pant (20) and Dinesh Karthik (30) were the other contributors. Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis took two wickets each. Adam Zampa was declared ‘Player of the Match’.