BRISBANE: Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis took two wickets in the last over Wednesday as India’s batting lineup collapsed late to lose their tour-opening Twenty20 International by four runs in Brisbane.

Virat Kohli returned to lead India after skipping the last series against West Indies and, after winning the toss and sending Australia in to bat at the Gabba, had a below-par night, dropping a regulation catch in the fourth over, misfielding later in the innings and getting out for four.

The Australians posted 158-4 in a rain-interrupted 17 overs with Glenn Maxwell (46 from 24 balls) and Chris Lynn (37 from 20 balls) each belting four sixes.

The rain delay brought the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rules into play, and India had to chase a revised target of 174 from 17 overs.

Shikhar Dhawan set India up in their run chase with a 42-ball 76 that included 10 boundaries and two sixes before he upper cut a short ball from Billy Stanlake to Jason Behrendorff on the third man boundary as the tourists slipped to 105-4 from 11.4 overs.

He raised his 50 with a six over backward square, his first, and had a reprieve on 65 when Adam Zampa put down a return catch, but finally succumbed to the short-pitch tactic.

Dhawan’s wicket came in a spell when India lost three wickets for 24 runs, and seemed to give Australia the advantage. But Rishabh Pant (20) and Dinesh Karthik (30) took up the attack and plundered 25 from one over by Andrew Tye after a tactical blunder by Australia captain Aaron Finch, who lost track of the new bowling restrictions.

The pair put on 51 for the fifth wicket to give India the ascendancy before Pant paddled an easy catch to Behrendorff off Tye’s bowling to again change the momentum, leaving India needing 18 runs from nine balls.

Stoinis bowled the last over, with India needing 13 runs and took pace off the ball and picked up the wickets of Krunal Pandya and Karthik caught in the outfield as India finished 169-7.

India have won their last seven T20 series, and Kohli’s squad is using the three-game series in the shortest format to fine-tune for the Test series.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:

D.J.M. Short c Kuldeep b Khaleel 7
A. J. Finch c Khaleel b Kuldeep 27
C.A. Lynn c and b Kuldeep 37
G.J. Maxwell c Kumar b Bumrah 46
M.P. Stoinis not out 33
B.R. McDermott not out 2

EXTRAS (B-1, W-5) 6

TOTAL (for four wkts, 17 overs) 158

FALL OF WKTS: 1-24, 2-64, 3-75, 4-153.

DID NOT BAT: A.T. Carey, A.J. Tye, A. Zampa, J.P. Behrendorff, B. Stanlake.

BOWLING: Kumar 3-0-15-0; Bumrah 3-0-21-1; Khaleel Ahmed 3-0-42-1 (2w); Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-24-2 (2w); Pandya 4-0-55-0 (1w).

INDIA:

R.G. Sharma c Finch b Behrendorff 7
S. Dhawan c Behrendorff b Stanlake 76
K.L. Rahul st Carey b Zampa 13
V. Kohli c Lynn b Zampa 4
R.R. Pant c Behrendorff b Tye 20
K.D. Karthik c Behrendorff b Stoinis 30
K.H. Pandya c Maxwell b Stoinis 2
B. Kumar not out 1
Kuldeep Yadav not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-7, NB-2) 12

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 17 overs) 169

FALL OF WKTS: 1-35, 2-81, 3-94, 4-105, 5-156, 6-163, 7-163.

DID NOT BAT: Khaleel Ahmed, J.J. Bumrah.

BOWLING: Behrendorff 4-0-43-1; Stanlake 3-0-27-1 (1nb, 1w); Tye 3-0-47-1 (3w); Zampa 4-0-22-2 (1nb); Stoinis 3-0-27-2 (1nb, 2w).

RESULT: Australia won by four runs (DLS Method).

UMPIRES: S.D. Fry (Australia) and Paul Wilson (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: G.A. Abood (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Adam Zampa.

SECOND MATCH: Melbourne, Friday.

THIRD MATCH: Sydney, Sunday.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018