India vs Australia 1st T20I Match Report: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan star in high-scoring run chase

Add as a preferred source on Google

India made a fresh start following their ICC World Cup Final debacle as they defeated the ODI and Test World Champions Australia by two wickets in the first T20I at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (November 23).

Stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, named skipper for the series for injured Hardik Pandya, collected the man of the match award for his 42-ball 80, which helped India chase down 209-run target after Jos Inglis set the stage on fire with his maiden century in just 47 balls.

This is India's highest T20I run-chase, outdoing chase of 208 against West Indies back in 2019. India is 1-0 up in the series. In the chase of 209, India started off well with Yashasvi Jaiswal hitting a four and six in the first over, but a miscommunication with Ruturaj Gaikwad ran out the latter for zero.

Jaiswal looked to up the attack in the next over, but Matthew Short got his first T20I wicket, removing Jaiswal for 21 off 8 balls, with two fours and two sixes. Ishan and Suryakumar Yadav then brought India's chase back on the track with a 112-run stand for the third wicket.

Ishan reached his half-century, his fourth in T20Is in just 37 balls, with two fours and four sixes. The left-hander attempted to punish Sangha with a four and six. However, a third attempt to clear the ropes was caught by Short. Ishan walked back for 58 off 39 balls, with two fours and five sixes.

Newly-in Tilak Varma played some good shots but lost his wicket to Sangha after being caught by Stoinis at extra cover for 12. Suryakumar Yadav continued the good work and brought the equation down to run-a-ball 15 at the end before going back to the pavilion.

Rinku Singh then saw job through with a 14-ball 22 as he scored the winning run off the final ball of the match despite India losing three wickets of the prior thee deliveries (all run outs).

Earlier, an explosive century by Josh Inglis and a 130-run partnership with Steve Smith powered Australia to 208/3. Put to bowl first, Australia was off to a steady start by openers Steve Smith and Matthew Short. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi produced the breakthrough for India, cleaning up Short's off stump for just 13 off 11 balls.

Things started to pick up with the arrival of Josh Inglis to the crease, who started off with a classy cover drive. The maiden T20I fifty came up for Inglis in just 29 balls, with six fours and three sixes. A century partnership was up between Inglis and Smith in just 57 balls.

Inglis then scored his maiden T20I ton in 47 balls, with nine fours and eight sixes. 18 runs came off the 17th over by Arshdeep Singh, including four fours by Inglis. Australia could have crossed 220 on the day but a fine last over by Mukesh Kumar kept Australia at 208/3, with David (19*) and Stoinis (7*) unbeaten.
Prasidh (1/50) and Ravi (1/54) took a wicket each. Mukesh's spell of 0/29 in four overs was perhaps the biggest positive for Indian bowlers.

- With inputs from ANI