Cricket

'Another first-stage exit loading' - Twitter rips apart Indian bowlers as Australia chased down 208 to win the first T20I

The first match of the three-match T20I series between India and Australia ended with Australia winning the match by four wickets.

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Daniel S
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India vs Australia

India vs Australia (Source: Twitter)

The first match of the three-match T20I series between India and Australia got underway at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday. The Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to field first.

Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul walked out to the middle to give a fiery start to the innings. The Indian captain made his intentions clear right from the word go as he smashed a boundary and a six in the first 10 balls of his innings. However, the ‘hitman’ couldn’t continue for long as he was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood in the third over. After Rohit’s dismissal, Australia got the big fish quickly as Virat Kohli was holed out at mid-on.

After losing two wickets, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul got together at the crease and built a solid partnership of 68 runs. Rahul was dismissed after scoring a brilliant 55 off 35 balls which brought Hardik Pandya to the crease. Pandya looked in sublime form as he put a wonderful exhibition of powerful strokes throughout his innings. Yadav was also dismissed for 46 from 25 balls in the 14th over, but that didn’t stop Pandya from playing extravagant shots.

The all-rounder continued his masterclass and finished with 71 off 30 balls, taking India to a total of 208 after the end of 20 overs. The Australian chase got off to an explosive start with Aaron Finch and Cameron Green going berserk right from ball one.

Finch and Green added 39 runs in 3.2 overs before Axar Patel dismissed Finch giving India its first breakthrough. After losing his partner, Green continued to show intent and kept finding boundaries regularly. He added 70 runs for the second wicket along with Steve Smith.

Patel, once again, gave India an important breakthrough by removing the well-set Green who scored 61 off 30 balls. Green’s wicket opened the floodgates as Umesh Yadav removed Smith and Glenn Maxwell in the twelfth over. India further tightened their grip on the game as Axar Patel once again hunted down an Aussie batter. He removed Josh Inglis in the fifteenth over leaving Australia at 145/5 after 14.1 overs.

As India brought Australia into a precarious situation, it was Matthew Wade who once again rose to the occasion and played a magnificent counter-attacking knock. Wade's knock rendered the Indian bowlers ineffective as Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were taken to the cleaners. Courtesy of a Wade's stupendous knock, Australia comfortably chased down the target of 208 with four balls remaining.

Here's how Twitter reacted to India's loss:

India vs Australia 2023 India vs Australia 2022