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After the exciting One Day International (ODI) series, India and Australia are facing each other in the first T20I at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
The hosts started pretty well after putting the visitors to bat first. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc provided the first breakthrough by dismissing left-handed India opener Shikhar Dhawan for 1.
Starc bowled a top-class delivery to get rid of Dhawan. It all happened in the third over of the match when the New South Wales speedster bowled a full delivery close to 144kph.
Dhawan got his front leg away to drive the ball through the off-side, but the white leather swung away late and crashed onto his off-stump.
Here is the video:
Castled! Brilliant start from Starc! 🔥
Live #AUSvIND: https://t.co/SCOCCnqPsY pic.twitter.com/Kw8NEIXjjv
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 4, 2020
Rahul, Jadeja push India to 161/7
After Dhawan’s dismissal, Indian skipper Virat Kohli (9) and wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul (51) tried to stabilize the innings. The pair added 37 runs for the second wicket before Mitchell Swepson removed Kohli.
In the meantime, Rahul kept on tickling the scoreboard and reached his 12th half-century in T20Is. He formed another vital stand of 38 runs with Sanju Samson. Both the players were looking set to accelerate the run flow, but Moises Henriques had some other plans.
Henriques dismissed Samson for 23 and soon removed Rahul. Manish Pandey, who did not get a single game in the ODI series, got a chance in the first T20I but he failed to leave his impact. Pandey was sent back to the dugout for just 2 runs by leg-spinner Adam Zampa. Henriques yet again came to the party as he picked up the prized wicket of Hardik Pandya (16) in the 17th over.
Just when it looked like that India won’t reach a competitive total, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja turned things around by some quick fireworks in the final few deliveries. The left-handed batsman smashed 44 off just 23 balls with the help of five fours and one six to take India to 161/7.
