| 0.0 : Hello and welcome, folks! The big tour is about to get underway. India have travelled Down Under to lock horns against Australia and the showdown begins with the shortest format of the game at the Gabba. These two teams have always had a fierce history in their rivalry. The situation is a lot different now though, especially with Australian cricket. They are under new leadership now under Aaron Finch, who is not shy to state that his side is on the brink of turning it around. |
| India are a side which is on the up. Despite their upset in England, they put up strong performances to give them a run for their money. And post that, were dominant in the Asia Cup and at home against the Windies. Their two months overseas now on this island country will provide a stern challenge, so it will be interesting to see how they go. Australia in Australia are never easy, and this new side is at its best in the T20 format, so we're sure to have a good contest on our hands. |
| PITCH REPORT - Brett Lee observes that there is a nice covering of grass. Not many cracks visible and the surface looks rock hard. Adds that the white ball should fly through. Opines that the conditions seem to be a little bit swirly which will make the ball talk. |
| TOSS - India win the toss and opt to bowl first! |
| Indian captain, Virat Kohli says it looks like a hard track with a decent amount of grass on it. Wants to figure out what areas are good to hit as they haven't had much time to practice here, so bowling first will be good to figure that out. Adds that times haven't been too busy for them so far as it's been a bit chilled out, but they need to switch on now. States that both teams know each others' strengths and weaknesses so it will be a good contest. |
| Australian captain, Aaron Finch says he would have liked to bowl first as well but doesn't mind batting first and putting runs on the board. Feels like they play against Indian players all the time due to the Indian T20 League. On team changes, he informs that Adam Zampa comes in for Nathan Coulter-Nile from their last game against South Africa. |
| Jasprit Bumrah is on the sidelines with Adam Gilchrist. The Indian pacer says that the wicket looks good as there's some pace and bounce. Reckons it's always fun to play in a place where cricket is so exciting. Feels that he is settling in this new place which is his main focus right now. Adds that he forgets about the past and focuses on the game at hand. On his action, he mentions he used to play a lot of tennis ball cricket so the yorkers were common, but as he's started playing more Test cri |
| The Indian team is out in a huddle by the boundary line. Some motivational words from skipper Kohli before his players spread out across the field. Aaron Finch and D'Arcy Short will open for the Aussies, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl to the latter. A couple of slips in place. Here we go... |
| 0.1 : B Kumar to D Short, Slightly short of a length and on the pads to start, Short plays it to mid-wicket. |
| 0.2 : B Kumar to D Short, Beaten! This one is outside off on a length and slightly shapes away to beat the outside edge of Short, who wants to feel the ball. |
| 0.3 : B Kumar to D Short, Just on top of off stump, good line by Kumar. Short defends it off the back foot. |
| 0.4 : B Kumar to D Short, Full and on the pads this time, Short flicks it away straight to the fielder at short mid-wicket. |
| 0.5 : B Kumar to D Short, Short goes for the huge one above the bowler but misses the ball completely. This one was fuller and outside off and moves away after landing. 5 dots in a row! |
| 0.6 : B Kumar to D Short, Short and Australia are off the mark as the left-hander flicks it away off the back foot in front of square on the leg side for a single. The square leg fielder went back for the last ball of the over. If he was in his place inside the ring, would have been a straightforward catch for him. |
| Jasprit Bumrah to bowl from the other end. Two slips in position for him as well. |
| 1.1 : J Bumrah to D Short, Good length ball on the off stump, Short wants to play it on the leg side but the ball takes the inner half of the bat and rolls back to the bowler. |
| 1.2 : J Bumrah to D Short, Same length and slightly outside off, Short flicks it to the left of mid on and picks up a single. |
| 1.3 : J Bumrah to A Finch, Good ball to Finch first up, comes in after landing! Finch wants to defend but gets the leading edge to short cover. |
| 1.4 : J Bumrah to A Finch, Pushes it fuller on this occasion, Finch plays it through mid-wicket and comes back for two. |
| 1.5 : J Bumrah to A Finch, Fuller and drifting onto the pads, Finch flicks it away and goes to the non-striker's end. |
| 1.6 : J Bumrah to D Short, On a good length and outside off, Short goes for the drive but misses. |
| 2.1 : B Kumar to A Finch, Length ball on off and defended on the front foot to cover. |
| 2.2 : B Kumar to A Finch, Slightly short of a length and outside off, Finch goes back in his crease and punches this one to cover. |
| 2.3 : B Kumar to A Finch, Similar delivery and Finch is watchful as he defends this with a straight bat. |
| 2.4 : B Kumar to A Finch, Short of a length on off and Finch pulls it away behind square on the leg side for a couple as Krunal comes around. Long square boundaries here at the 'Gabba. |
| 2.5 : B Kumar to A Finch, Kumar is slightly back of a length here and outside off, Finch punches it towards mid off and sets off for the quick single. The fielder has a shy at the non-striker's end but misses it. |
| 2.6 : B Kumar to D Short, FOUR! The first boundary of this innings! Short stays tall and pulls this short one on middle behind square on the leg side towards the deep backward square leg fence. |
| 3.1 : J Bumrah to A Finch, DROPPED! This one was a half volley outside off and Finch smashes it in the air straight to Kohli at cover. The ball goes too fast to him and the captain can't hold on. The batsmen run through for a single. |
| 3.2 : J Bumrah to D Short, Short flicks this one to square leg for a single. |
| 3.3 : J Bumrah to A Finch, FOUR! Overpitched on middle, Finch powers this through mid on. Khaleel Ahmed dives to his left but in vain. Finch looks in good touch here! |
| 3.4 : J Bumrah to A Finch, FOUR! Second consecutive one. This ball was short of a length and Finch tries to play it with a straight bat but the ball takes the inside edge and runs towards the fine leg fence. Short fine leg can't stop it. |
| 3.5 : J Bumrah to A Finch, On a length and outside off, Finch misses as he goes for swipe over mid off. |
| 3.6 : J Bumrah to A Finch, Good pace here from Bumrah, outside off and on a length. Finch runs it down fine to third man and comes back for the second. Good running this! 12 runs with a dropped catch came from that over. Australia getting a move-on. |
| Khaleel Ahmed is into the attack. |
| 4.1 : K Ahmed to D Short, OUT! Khaleel strikes first ball! Excellent catch by Kuldeep as D'Arcy's short stay at the crease is over. A length ball, around off, Short looks to go over the top but hits it very high in the air. Gets plenty of height but not that much distance. In fact, he cannot get it past mid on. Kuldeep Yadav runs back a touch, keeps his eyes on the ball and takes a very good catch. Big wicket for India as Short can really strike them long but in hindsight, it might be a blessing |
| 0.0 : Chris Lynn is in at no.3. |
| 4.2 : K Ahmed to A Finch, Full and outside off, Finch looks to drives this one but gets the inside edge that rolls onto the vacant leg side toward square leg for a single. |
| 4.3 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, FOUR! Off the mark straightaway, this one is full and outside off. Lynn powers it away through cover and to the boundary. Went like a rocket! |
| 4.4 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, Full and on off and middle, Lynn defends it with a straight bat on this occasion. |
| 4.5 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, Flicked away in front of square leg for a single and gives the strike to his skipper. |
| 4.6 : K Ahmed to A Finch, Good length and at the hips this time. Finch plays it away to deep square leg for a run to end the over. A successful one for India. |
| 5.1 : B Kumar to A Finch, FOUR! Too straight in line and Bhuvi pays the price for it. Full and angling in on the pads, Finch just clips this fine down the leg side. Short fine leg is in place, but he has no chance of stopping it. |
| 5.2 : B Kumar to A Finch, Fuller length ball on off, driven back down the ground towards mid on for a quick single. |
| 5.3 : B Kumar to C Lynn, Just behind a length, close to off, Lynn stands his ground and swings, only to miss. |
| 5.4 : B Kumar to C Lynn, Good bowling from Kumar here, just outside off. Slows down the pace on this occasion and Lynn can just defend it straight back to him. |
| 5.5 : B Kumar to C Lynn, Pulls away this short one powerfully but straight to the deep mid-wicket fielder. Just a single. |
| 5.6 : B Kumar to A Finch, Good ball to end the over, Finch remains on the back foot and drops it towards mid-wicket for a run. 38 runs and 1 wicket off the Powerplay. |
| Kuldeep Yadav to roll his arm over now. |
| 6.1 : K Yadav to A Finch, Starts off with a full toss on middle, Finch sweeps it to deep square leg for a single. |
| 6.2 : K Yadav to C Lynn, Flatter and darted in quickly on the pads, Lynn flicks it away for another single. |
| 6.3 : K Yadav to A Finch, Full toss again outside off, Finch drives it to long off for a run. |
| 6.4 : K Yadav to C Lynn, Looped up on middle, Lynn removes his front foot out of the way and drives to long on for a single. |
| 6.5 : K Yadav to A Finch, Loud appeal from Kuldeep for an LBW. This one doesn't spin at all and would've gone on to miss off stump. The ball was full and landed on middle. Finch who was trying to sweep again, misses it completely and gets rapped on the front pad. Rohit, at slip suggests that the ball would've missed the stumps and India decide not to go upstairs. Anyways, the impact also seemed to be outside off. |
| 6.6 : K Yadav to A Finch, Full and on middle again, Finch works it away between square leg and fine leg for a single. |
| Khaleel Ahmed to have a change of ends. |
| 7.1 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, SIX! That's a big hit. Well, was just over the rope, but the boundaries here are extremely big. Back of a length on the stumps, Lynn stays on the back foot and muscles the pull over mid-wicket for the first maximum of the game. |
| 7.2 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, On the shorter side of the length, in line of the stumps, Lynn swings across the line but fails to connect. |
| 7.3 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, Helps the pull behind square leg for a couple of runs. |
| 7.4 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, SIX! That's outta here! He's absolutely nailed that. What a hit. Shortish in length and into the body, Lynn backs away a touch and launches it high and handsome over square leg for a biggie. |
| 7.5 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, SIX! Two in two! Lynn-sanity on the cards this evening? Could very well be. He looks to be in fine touch here. Full and right in the slot, Lynn throws his front leg out of the way and bangs it over long on. |
| 7.6 : K Ahmed to C Lynn, Back of a length around off, slapped through to sweeper cover for one. 21 runs off the over, Australia are flying now. |
| 8.1 : K Yadav to C Lynn, Slower one and outside off, Lynn just plays it away calmly towards cover point and takes a single. |
| 8.2 : K Yadav to A Finch, This one is quick and aimed just outside off, Finch goes to reverse sweep this one and misses it. Gets hit on the pad but impact is outside off. |
| 8.3 : K Yadav to A Finch, OUT! This time the line is outside off and flighted. Finch comes down the ground and looks to hoick it out of the ground but only manages to get an outside edge that loops up to Khaleel at short third man. India will be really happy to see the back of the Aussie skipper as he was looking really good and set to make it count. The ball seemed like a wrong 'un and replays confirm it. Finch doesn't read it and perishes for 27. The partnership of 40 off 26 balls comes to an e |
| Glenn Maxwell walks into the middle next. Time for the Big Show to entertain? |
| 8.4 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, Half volley outside off, Maxwell drills it through covers and gets off the mark with a couple of runs. |
| 8.5 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, Loopy and full, on middle and leg, pushed back down the ground towards mid off for one. |
| 8.6 : K Yadav to C Lynn, The batsman has played that off the front foot and into the ground. |
| Krunal Pandya is now into the attack. |
| 9.1 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Looped up on off stump, Maxwell defends it watchfully. |
| 9.2 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Fuller and slightly quicker this time. Maxwell defends it back with a straight bat. |
| 9.3 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Flatter and darted at the pads, Maxwell drops it down towards short fine leg for a run. |
| 9.4 : K Pandya to C Lynn, MASSIVE! Lynn seems to be in the mood today! He dances down the wicket to this looped up ball on middle and lofts it over long on and into the sightscreen. Moves onto 36 in no time. |
| 9.5 : K Pandya to C Lynn, This one is flatter and just outside off, Lynn covers the drift on the ball and plays it back safely off the back foot to cover. |
| 9.6 : K Pandya to C Lynn, Shorter and outside off, punched away to deep extra cover to retain strike. |
| 10.1 : K Yadav to C Lynn, OUT! GOT 'EM! Kuldeep strikes. A rather soft dismissal in the end, but a big wicket nonetheless. The in-form Lynn departs. The chinaman tosses it up on the stumps, Lynn comes forward and ends up chipping it back in the bowler's direction. The bowler moves to his left and takes a sharp catch tumbling down. |
| 0.0 : Marcus Stoinis is next in. |
| 10.2 : K Yadav to M Stoinis, Fuller and outside off, Stoinis goes down and paddles it towards fine leg for a couple. Off the mark straightaway. |
| 10.3 : K Yadav to M Stoinis, FOUR! Darted in quick at leg stump, Stoinis is quick to adjust and just laps it away fine on the leg side. Beats deep fine leg to the boundary. |
| 10.4 : K Yadav to M Stoinis, Flighted and on middle this time, Stoinis reverse sweeps and to the left of short third man. The batsman pick up a single. |
| 10.5 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, Looped up again, Maxwell comes ahead and defends it presenting the full face of the bat. |
| 10.6 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, Short and outside off, Maxwell cuts it away hard but straight to deep point. Picks up a single and keeps the strike. |
| 11.1 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Wide! Down the leg side, wide signalled. |
| K Pandya to G Maxwell, Full and on the stumps, knocked down to long on for a run. |
| 11.2 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, Shorter and outside off, Stoinis stands tall and pushes it towards mid on for a single. Krunal runs and picks up the ball to prevent the second. |
| 11.3 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Short and wide outside off, cracked through towards sweeper cover for a double. |
| 11.4 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Works it away with a closed face to mid-wicket for one this time. |
| Review taken. Marcus Stoinis has been given out leg before, so he's decided to take it upstairs. |
| 11.5 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, NOT OUT! Stoinis survives! Great review by Australia! The ball was short and pitched around middle, Stoinis goes for the reverse sweep and misses the ball to get hit on the thigh pad. The umpire thinks about it and raises his finger. Stoinis decides to go upstairs after consulting Maxwell. The Ball Tracker shows the ball to be going above the stumps. |
| 11.6 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, Short, flat and darted on off, Stoinis goes on the back foot and punches it towards long on. Single taken to end the over. |
| Khaleel Ahmed back into the attack. He's been expensive so far, can he turn things around? |
| 12.1 : K Ahmed to M Stoinis, Wide down the leg side, No trouble at all for the batsman. The umpire signals a wide. |
| K Ahmed to M Stoinis, Huge mix-up between the batsmen but Maxwell survives. Short and outside off, Stoinis drops it down towards backward point. Maxwell runs through while his partner is ball-watching. Rahul throws it towards the non-striker's end but misses the stumps. Khaleel can't come around in time either. Huge chance missed by the Indians. |
| 12.2 : K Ahmed to M Stoinis, The batsman has punched the ball off the back foot. |
| 12.3 : K Ahmed to M Stoinis, FOUR! Short ball from Khaleel, Stoinis picks the length up, stays on the back foot and pulls it over mid-wicket. Big boundary out there, nobody in the deep either. The ball rolls across the fence. |
| 12.4 : K Ahmed to M Stoinis, Banged in short but it's too short, wide called. |
| K Ahmed to M Stoinis, A misfield from Kohli allows the batsmen to take an extra run. Stoinis works it in front of square leg and the batsmen take two. Kohli hares to the ball from mid-wicket but lets it through. Three taken in total. |
| 12.5 : K Ahmed to G Maxwell, Taps it away towards cover-point for one. |
| 12.6 : K Ahmed to M Stoinis, FOUR! BANG! Full ball on the stumps, Stoinis smacks it straight back down the ground for a boundary. |
| 13.1 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Full toss on middle, Maxwell slogs it but can't connect well. Gets the inside half of the bat towards mid-wicket and picks up a couple. |
| 13.2 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, SIX! Huge one over cow corner! This one is short and darted in on off stump, Maxwell rocks back and smashes it for a maximum. |
| 13.3 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, SIX! He's really taking off now. Seems to have got his eye in. Straighter one on off, the Big Show stands firm inside the crease and slogs it over wide long on for a maximum. |
| 13.4 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, SIX! Another one. A hat-trick of maximums, for the second time in this innings. Fuller in line of the stumps, Maxwell once again smokes it over the long on boundary for half a dozen. Still 2 balls left. |
| 13.5 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Full toss on the pads, Maxwell flicks it away to deep square leg for another couple. Krunal in the line of fire now and looks under pressure. 50-run partnership up between these two! Handy stand for the Aussies. |
| 13.6 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Full and on middle, Maxwell pushes it down the ground and gets a single to keep the strike. 23 runs off this over and 37 off the last two! |
| Kuldeep Yadav returns. India need a wicket desperately. |
| 14.1 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, WIDE! This is wide down the leg side, Glenn looks to flick but misses. |
| K Yadav to G Maxwell, Backs away to make some room and then lofts this shorter ball over covers. Dhawan moves to his right and keeps the batsmen to two. |
| 14.2 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, Brings out the reverse sweep this one and places it through the off side for a run. |
| 14.3 : K Yadav to M Stoinis, Googly landing on leg stump, shorter in length and defended off the back foot by Stoinis. Rare dot ball. |
| 14.4 : K Yadav to M Stoinis, Fuller and outside off, Stoinis playing very sensibly and giving the strike to Maxwell as he drives this to long off for a single. |
| 14.5 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, The batsman tries flicking a ball that is down the leg side. The umpire has signalled a wide. |
| K Yadav to G Maxwell, This one is full and darted outside off stump, Maxwell drives it straight to cover. No run. |
| 14.6 : K Yadav to G Maxwell, At the pads and flicked away square on the leg side by Maxwell. The batsmen come back for the second as the ball goes in the gap. |
| 15.1 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, SIX! Poor ball and Krunal has been punished. Short ball angling in, Stoinis with all his power heaves it flat over mid-wicket. Maximum! |
| 15.2 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, Slaps this pull towards wide long on. Dhawan there moves to his right, slides and stops the ball. Two taken by the batsmen. |
| 15.3 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, Respite for Krunal. Good ball outside off and just inside the tram line. Stoinis lets it go thinking it would be a wide but it's just inside. Dot ball! |
| 15.4 : K Pandya to M Stoinis, Pushed away in the air but safe towards long on. Maxwell comes back on strike. |
| 15.5 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, SIX! This one is a high full toss on middle and Maxwell smashes it over deep square leg for a huge one. The ball was so high that it could've been called no ball as well but the leg umpire decides against it. Krunal just wants to get through his over as soon as possible and is bowling poor deliveries in the process. |
| Dead ball. Maxwell will consider himself lucky. He skied one but the ball hit the spider cam. Was mostly likely going to be a catch down the ground either to long on or long off. |
| 15.6 : K Pandya to G Maxwell, Fuller and quicker on middle, Maxwell hits in the air, in the gap between mid on and deep mid-wicket. The Aussie batsmen come back for the second. Krunal finishes with figures of 0-55 which is the most expensive for a spinner in Australia in T20Is. |
| Jasprit Bumrah comes back on. |
| 16.1 : J Bumrah to M Stoinis, Dropped! That's the second catch dropped off Bumrah's bowling. Another simple catch. Short ball outside off, Stoinis cuts it aerially towards Khaleel at third man. He moves a little to his right, tries to gobble it up but it slips right through. Oh, dear! That's poor. A single is taken. |
| So the forecast has finally come true. It's raining down and the players are asked to walk off the field. PLAY HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED DUE TO RAIN! This break probably came at the right time for the Indians. Australia have their noses ahead as things stand. Finch and Lynn were blazing away, a couple of wickets fell in quick succession but then Maxwell and Stoinis went on the charge. Their partnership is of 78 off just 36 balls. There have been a couple of easy chances dropped, which could |
| Update 1934 local - Good news is that the rain has stopped. Bad is that the outfield seems to have taken a serious beating. Let's see when play can be resumed. A minimum of 30 minutes from the looks of it. |
| Update 1940 local - The drizzle has started again. The covers are back on. |
| Update 1955 local - The rain has stopped and play will resume in 10 minutes. The match has been reduced to 17 overs, so Australia will have 5 balls to face before the end of the innings. |
| We are back. The Indians have taken their positions. It will be Maxwell on strike to Bumrah who will finish the 5 balls remaining in the over. |
| 16.2 : J Bumrah to G Maxwell, OUT! Bumrah gets Maxi again! A wicket for India straight after the break. A length ball, around middle, the Big Show tries to heave across the line but cannot get it past square leg. Straight to Bhuvneshwar who takes a good catch. No fifty for Maxwell as Bumrah has picked him up for the sixth time in T20Is. Kohli may have missed a trick by not bringing him on earlier. |
| Ben McDermott is the new man in. |
| 16.3 : J Bumrah to Ben McDermott, A high full toss, the new man hits it over the bowler, down the ground for a couple. |
| 16.4 : J Bumrah to Ben McDermott, Outside off, a swing and a miss. |
| 16.5 : J Bumrah to Ben McDermott, Another slower ball, outside off, Ben is early into his pull but misses. The batsmen sneak in a bye. |
| 16.6 : J Bumrah to M Stoinis, Full and outside off, pushed through mid on for a couple. AUSTRALIA FINISH ON 158/4! |
| That is a decent total posted by Australia. They started slowly but then a couple of chances gifted by the Indians allowed them to recover. The first three overs saw only 12 runs but then slowly, the runs started to come. |
| Finally Lynn-sanity was there to be seen. He finally played big, clobbering Khaleel for three successive sixes but India came back with the wickets of Finch and Lynn in quick succession. Then, they cam across the Maxi storm. |
| The visitors could have kept things quiet had Rahul not missed a simple run out chance of Maxwell - but what happened next was a big show from the Big Show as he got stuck into Krunal Pandya for a hat-trick of sixes. He got a good hand from his Victorian teammate, Marcus Stoinis as Australia were heading for a massive total. |
| It was during the 17th over when the heavens opened up. The Aussies were heading for a score of probably around 180-190, possibly even 200 but the rain break halted all their momentum. They managed just 5 runs in 5 balls post the rain break and the REVISED DLS TARGET FOR INDIA IS 174 IN 17 OVERS. |
| When 3 out of your 5 bowlers do well, normally, you say that it is a good bowling effort. But not in a T20I. Here, even one bad outing for a bowler spoils all the good work done. Factor this - Bhuvi, Bumrah and Kuldeep had combined figures of 10-0-60-3 while Khaleel and Krunal went for 7-0-97-1. Ouch. |
| 174 to win with an in-form batting line-up against a threatening but a not-so-in-form bowling attack. Should be fun. Stay tuned... |
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