Dubai: India claimed a dominating 9 wicket victory over Australia in their final warm-up match before the resumption of their campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai on Wednesday.
Batting first at the ICC Academy Ground, the Aussie were restricted at 152/5 in 20 overs before Virat Kohli’s side chased it down with ease with 13 balls to spare Rohit Sharma(60) starring for the Men in Blue.
Steve Smith’s decision to bat first backfired as Austrlia lost their top three inside powerplay overs with all of them going home on single digit. Smith though was the man coming in as the savior scoring a 48 ball 57 to anchor the innings. Glenn Gave him a good support(38) but fell to Rahul Chahar.
Marcus Stoinis hammered a vital 25 ball 41 while stitching a 76 run stand with his captain. Australia, recovered well after the early setbacks, as they scored 58 runs in the last five overs. The spinning duo of Ravichandran Ashwin(2/8) and Rahul Chahar(1/17) were the man for India although the bowlers went for a few at death.
India’s chase was quite steady as KL Rahul(39) and Rohit Sharma(60) played with ease putting a 68 run stand. Rahul after a blistering knock in the last warm-up game played a rather contrasting innings before Aussie spinner Ashton Agar went through his defence in the 10th over.
India never looked out of the track as Rohit held the innings while bringing up his half-century as well before he decided to walk-off as the side already closed down the gap to comfortable one. Suryakumar Yadav(38) who failed in the last game grabbed his chance with both hands and alongside Hardik Pandya(14) remained unbeaten to finish the game. India will begin their campaign against arch rivals Pakistan in Super 12 on Sunday (October 24).
Brief Scores: India 153/1 in 17.5 overs(Rohit Sharma 60, KL Rahul 39;Ashton Agar 1/14) beat Australia 152/5 in 20 overs( Steve Smith 57,Marcus Stoinis 37; Ravichandran Ashwin 2/8, Rahul Chahar 1/17) by 9wickets.
