India made his t20 world cup Preparing with a nine-wicket win over Australia in their final warm-up match here on Wednesday, but the sixth bowler’s spot remained a matter of concern as Virat Kohli also extended his hand going into the tournament. With Kohli only to bowl while captaining the side, Rohit Sharma (60 off 41 retired) displayed a fine touch with opening partner KL Rahul (39 off 31) as India beat Australia’s 152 in 17.5 overs. Chasing runs for five wickets.
t20 world cup full coverage | the schedule | photos | Mark sheet
Suryakumar Yadav (38 not out on 27) came third in Kohli’s absence and got valuable time in between, which boosted his confidence going forward. Hardik Pandya (14 not out on 8) came on four to end the game and did so with a clean hit on the bowler’s head.
Another plus for India was veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who found the momentum after a poor outing against England. India had also defeated England in their first warm-up match. The batting department looks more or less settled and the five specialist bowlers also inspire confidence but the same cannot be said about the extra bowling option as Hardik is not bringing his all-rounder skills to the table at the moment.
“Hardik is coming along very well but it will take him some time to start bowling. He hasn’t started bowling, but he should be ready till the start of the tournament,” Rohit said at the toss for the warm-up match against Australia. The team management expects him to be ready to bowl during India’s World Cup campaign. Which will start with the match against Pakistan on Sunday.
Read also | MS Dhoni will have an aura but he is not someone who crosses the line: Lakshmipathy Balaji
Skipper Kohli kept things tight with two overs of medium pace but expecting him to work in high-pressure scenarios would be asking for a lot from him. India conceded 58 runs in the last five overs and that is something they would like to improve upon.
After losing the toss, India made a good bowling effort. Rohit mentioned in the toss that Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were rested from the game, but the captain took the field to bowl a few overs in which he conceded 12 runs.
India reduced Australia to 11 for three after Aaron Finch opted to bat first. David Warner’s barren run continued when he was trapped in front of Ravichandran Ashwin after a failed reverse sweep attempt. On his very next ball, Ashwin dismissed birthday boy Mitchell Marsh, who was playing for the turn, only to not take the lead at first slip.
Finch was dismissed lbw with a slider off his very first ball by Ravindra Jadeja, leaving Australia with a lot of work to do. Steve Smith (57 off 48) and in-form Glenn Maxwell (37 off 28) tried to break the bond with a 61-run partnership.
Read also | ‘MSD can give tough competition to any of us, like to have him in the dressing room’
While Maxwell made good use of the reverse sweep, Smith kept himself busy by rotating the strike. After falling in Maxwell’s traditional sweep, Smith and Marcus Stoinis (41 not out off 25 balls) came together and finalized the innings.
Smith hit three consecutive fours off Shardul Thakur in the 17th over before Stoinis hit a straight six and a four off mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty, who conceded 23 runs in his two overs. After a bad day at the office against England, Bhuvneshwar found his rhythm and was dominant both in the starts and in the death.
India, however, will be a little disappointed to concede so many runs in the death overs and help Australia recover.
get all IPL news and cricket score Here
.