IND vs AUS 2019, 1st T20I, Vizag - They Deserved to Win - Virat Kohli

Australia opened the blood threads in Vizag – beating India by three wickets in the first T20I. For the visitors, Glenn Maxwell starred with the bat, as he completed his fifty while D’Arcy Short also contributed at the top of the order. On the other hand, Nathan Coulter-Nile picked three wickets; jolting India’s middle-order in the first innings. Meanwhile, the India captain, Virat Kohli wasn’t left happy in his returning game. Though he found some runs under his belt, India losing after how they had begun hurt him more.

Middle-order slump cost hosts in Vizag T20I

Australia captain, Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bowl first. Both the teams had named a debutant on their list. For the Oz, it was Peter Handscomb, while for India, a young Mayank Markande got his international cap. The Aussies got Rohit Sharma early, but the pair of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli did trouble them. As KL completed his fifty, Virat too found his touch – collecting 24 off 17 balls including three boundaries.

Later, it was all about Nathan Coulter-Nile inflecting his magic on the middle-order. As no one stood tall, apart from MS Dhoni; who looked rusty in his approach, India could manage a little 126 for seven inside 20 overs.

Maxwell stirs Aussies to take an early lead

Though there are only two T20Is, taking the lead is always a better feeling. Australia, in their quest to attain it, didn’t begin well at all. Losing Marcus Stoinis and captain Finch inside three overs had the Oz on the floor. However, Glenn Maxwell had other plans. Before India could press any further, the all-rounder unleashed himself – smashing fours and sixes at will.

D’Arcy Short, who is a man in form, did justice to his selection as well; as he partnered with Maxwell to take Aussies home. A little after Glenn completed his fifty he got out to Yuzvendra Chahal. In a few overs, they lost a couple of wickets too – reeling at 102 for five at one stage. However, there was a twist in the tale. In the penultimate over, Bumrah took two wickets and gave away just two runs. In the final over, the Aussies need 14 runs and guess what, the scored 14 runs.

Virat upset

The India captain, Virat Kohli shared his thoughts on the thrilling encounter in Vizag –

In the first innings, we were not up to scratch. The wicket was decent enough till the 15th over. We didn’t bat really well. A low scoring game is always on the cards in T20 cricket. With the bowling effort we were pleased. Bumrah can do wonders with the ball when the ball is reversing and did exceptionally well to get us in the game. And Mayank did well in the middle overs as well. Anything is possible now. We want to give game time to Rahul and Pant to figure out what we need to do in the World Cup. I think he (Rahul) played a really good knock, we had a good partnership. 150 would have been a winning score the way the pitch played. Australia deserved to win as they played better than us.