Cricket News : Wade & Green thumped India to give Australia a 1-0 lead in the T20 series

After a breath-taking pursuit of 208, which was started by Cameron Green and ended by Matthew Wade, Australia took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Australia had a thrilling end when Bhuvneshwar Kumar went first for 15 runs, followed by Harshal Patel's 22-run over, with 55 needed in 24 balls. Tim David and Matthew Wade each hit the latter for a six as he concluded with forgettable figures of 0/49 on the international return. Wade then played around with Bhuvneshwar for three consecutive boundaries in the last over, making a mockery of the lines by hitting him through cover and midwicket. In the end, Australia defeated India's highest score ever against them by four wickets.

Thanks to helpful contributions made after being given the opportunity to bat.

The openers, despite some early assistance for the seamers, came out prepared to go on the offensive and establish the tone. The momentum was maintained by KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav even as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli left the field in an attempt to make a major splash. The pair played pick-up drives with ease and took advantage of the wicket's pace to put on 68 runs in just 36 balls.

Australia's pacers slightly misjudged their lengths, which combined with their capacity to bat heavily against spin, allowed them to profit. The latter got going with back-to-back sixes off Adam Zampa while Rahul was brutal against the pacers, scoring 50 off 32 balls. However, shortly around the midway point in the innings, both fell quickly, giving Australia some hope.

Hardik Pandya, who had his eye in, dominated the final few pitches of the inning. The all-rounder helped India over the 200-run threshold with 71 off only 30 balls, including three sixes off the final three balls of the innings. Pandya totaled five sixes. Pandya's blitz helped India reach a significant score, and Nathan Ellis' three-wicket haul stopped India from exploding at both ends.

With Cameron Green, Australia got a fresh opener to go with Aaron Finch. The all-rounder made amends for a dismal final over with an impressive knock that included eight fours and four sixes in a 30-ball 61. Along with Finch, he also enjoyed the lengths of Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who were filling in for the rested Jasprit Bumrah. Green started off with four straight boundaries off Umesh, while Finch hit three off Bhuvneshwar's subsequent over. Green made sure that his first opening role in T20Is was remembered by maintaining the same momentum even after the powerplay.

With a final score of 3/17, Axar Patel was India's top bowler for the day. The spinner first provided a breakthrough when he bowled Finch and later returned to also get Green to sky too far. He dropped Green on 40 against Pandya, giving India a total of one out of three opportunities to succeed, but he was able to atone for his mistake this time. Josh Inglis was also bowled around the legs by him, and these two dismissals came at the end of Umesh Yadav's double strike, which saw Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell both caught behind on review in the same over.

India had access after Australia lost four wickets for 36 runs in those four overs, but Wade and company quickly closed the door.

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