Australia beat India 122 – 118 in their second Twenty20 match at the Barsapara Cricket Ground.
Champagne corks were popping all around down under. The win was a narrow one, but a win nonetheless on a ground on the subcontinent where the Australian cricket news has been more dismal than upbeat for quite some time.
Aussie bowler Jason Behrendorff held the top four batsmen for India to 16 runs in the first innings, including a shutout of Virat Kohli. Behrendorff needed only two balls to dispose of Kohli, one of the top batters in the world.
Others picked up where Behrendorff left off. Adam Zampa limited Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni to 40 runs off 43 balls.
David Warner summed it up thusly, “As I said at the toss we have to bowl well and start well. Credit to our bowlers, they kept taking wickets and obviously Dorff (Jason Behrendorff) taking four wickets in his first real spell for us was fantastic.He’s got the height, he’s got the bounce, comes from Perth, he’s got a bit of swing and he’s got the right attitude which is key. I thought him and Adam Zampa bowled really well.”
Virat Kohli had this to say, “Not the performance that we wished for. I think Australia were much better on the day. That’s exactly what we spoke about at the toss, that we need to play well against this team, any opportunity and they’ll pounce. And that’s exactly what happened today. I don’t think we were good enough with the bat. There wicket was a bit sticky at the beginning and the dew later on was a big factor.”
India typically prepares the pitch to be dry and dusty, so dew obviously was not welcome.
Moises Henriques swung the big lumber for the Aussies. He notched 62 runs off 46 balls and slammed four 4s and four 6s.
Travis Head added 48 off 34, including five 4s and one 6.
