Chasing 209, India rode on Suryakumar Yadav’s 80, Ishan Kishan’s 58 and Rinku Singh’s last-over heroics in two-wicket win.
Visakhapatnam: Leading India for the first time, Suryakumar Yadav opined that he left the ‘captaincy luggage’ in the dressing room as his 42-ball 80 laid the platform for India’s successful chase of 209 in the first T20I on Thursday against Australia. Ishan Kishan’s fifty and Rinku Singh’s final-over heroics also played a part in India’s win as the Men in Blue took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Sent into bat first, Australia rode on Josh Inglis’ maiden T20I hundred and Steve Smith’s fifty to post 208/3 in 20 overs. In reply, India lost both their openers before Suryakumar and Kishan put on 112 runs for the third wicket.
Although Kishan was dismissed for 58, SKY kept the scoreboard going with his 16th T20I fifty before being out for 80 with 14 needed off the last two overs. But Axar Patel bungled big time and the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh also were run-out in a jiffy.
With a single needed off the final delivery, Sean Abbott was deposited into the stands by Rinku but to everyone’s delight, it turned out to be a big no-ball and hence the maximum wasn’t counted. India thus won with a ball to spare.
However, what stood out was Rinku’s fearlessness and the sense of occasion and execution under pressure. “Thought there will be a little bit of dew but there wasn’t. It isn’t a big ground and I knew batting will get easy. Thought they might get 230-235 but the bowlers did really well. Just enjoy and express yourself,” Suryakumar said after the game.
“We’ve been in such situations many times in franchise cricket, just told Ishan to enjoy himself. We knew what was going to happen. I left the luggage of captaincy in the dressing room. I try to enjoy my batting. The atmosphere was amazing, thanks to the crowd. Was great to see how the boys kept their nerves.
“Was great to see Rinku, the situation was tailor-made for him. He was calm and collected, calmed me down a little bit. Incredible achievement from the bowlers to restrict them to this total after the 16th over,” added SKY who became India’s 13th T20I men’s captain.
Asked about his feeling on his new role, the Mumbai Indians batter said it will take time to sink in. “It’s a proud moment, very proud moment, everytime you play, you think about representing India but coming out here and captaining India is a big moment,” he added.