ICC T20 World Cup, warm-up match: India beat Australia
India beat Australia in their first warm-up fixture of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup at The Gabba, Brisbane. The Men in Blue snatched victory from jaws of defeat, having defended 186. Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who replaced injured Jasprit Bumrah in India's squad, defended 11 runs in the final over. Earlier, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav slammed innings-defining half-centuries.
How did the match pan out?
India had a wonderful start after Australia elected to field. Rohit Sharma and Rahul shared a 78-run stand, with the latter being the aggressor. SKY continued his brilliant form, registering 50 (33). Dinesh Karthik scored a valuable 20, guiding India to 186/7. In the run-chase, Australia were cruising at 145/3. However, India took successive wickets thereafter. Shami took three wickets in the final over.
Another top knock by SKY
Suryakumar continues his exploits in T20I cricket. SKY, the leading run-scorer of 2022, exhibited another show of his strokes. He slammed 50 off 33 balls, a knock laced with 6 fours and 1 six. The right-handed batter shared valuable partnerships with Karthik and Axar Patel. However, Suryakumar was caught and bowled by Kane Richardson. The former failed to hammer a poor delivery.
Suryakumar's cheeky comment during match against Australia goes viral
After reaching the half-century off 32 balls, Suryakumar was heard saying that he is not in the mood to hit. "Maarne ka mood nahi ho raha hai yaar," SKY told Axar Patel, who was at the other hand. Interestingly, the dasher got out on the very next delivery after making this comment. Suryakumar mistimed a flick shot as Kane Richardson executed a caught-and-bowled dismissal.
A match-winning over!
Shami bowled match-winning deliveries in his only over of the match, the 20th. He defended 11 runs off the final over as skipper Rohit gave him a stern challenge. Shami conceded four runs in his first two balls before dismissing Pat Cummins. Ashton Agar got run-out on the next ball, while Shami knocked over Josh Inglis and Kane Richards to hand India a win.
A look at other notable performers
Besides Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar slammed impressive numbers. He took two wickets for 20 runs in three overs. Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Harshal Patel took a wicket each. For Australia, captain Aaron Finch 76 off 54 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes).
