IND vs AUS, 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan power India to win after record run-chase

India recorded their highest successful run-chase in T20Is as they defeated Australia by two wickets in the opening match of the series in Visakhapatnam.

The Men in Blue chased down a mammoth target of 209 in 19.5 overs on Thursday, November 23 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Their previous highest run-chase was against the West Indies back in December 2019 when they tracked down 208 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. It was also the fifth time that India successfully chased down a target of above 200 in T20Is.

After being put in to bat first, Australia racked up a massive score of 208 for the loss of three wickets. Ravi Bishnoi got the early wicket of Matthew Short, but Steve Smith and Josh Inglis made sure they dictated terms to the Indian bowlers.

Smith and Inglis put on 130 runs for the second wicket off 11.1 overs. Steve was circumspect as he scored 52 runs off 41 balls with eight fours before getting run out.

Inglis, on the other hand, raced to his fifty off 29 balls after which he raced to his maiden T20I half-century off 47 balls. He also equalled Aaron Finch’s record for the fastest T20I hundred by an Australian batter.

Inglis ended up scoring 110 runs off 50 balls with 11 fours and eight sixes before Prasidh Krishna eventually accounted for his wicket. Tim David threw his bat at everything to stay not out on 19 runs off 13 balls.

Krishna and Bishnoi got one wicket apiece, but they leaked 104 runs off their eight overs. Mukesh Kumar was their most economical bowler with figures of 4-0-29-0.

Suryakumar shines

India did not get off to the best of starts after Ruturaj Gaikwad perished without facing a single delivery. Gaikwad was run out after a terrible mix-up with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 21 runs off eight balls before Short dismissed him.

Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav got India back into the run-chase with a partnership of 132 off 10 overs. Kishan was batting on 4 off 12 balls when he stepped on the gas to complete his half-century off 37 balls.

Kishan, however, got out after scoring 58 runs off 39 balls with two fours and five sixes. Suryakumar, in the meantime, racked up his half-century off 29 balls and kept India in the run-chase. He also became the second Indian after KL Rahul to score a half-century on T20I captaincy debut.

Tilak Varma promised with a couple of fours before Jason Sangha dismissed him. Sangha also got the wicket of Kishan, but gave away 47 runs in four overs. Suryakumar got out after scoring 80 runs off 42 balls, but India romped home with one ball to spare.

Rinku Singh held his nerve, stayed not out on 22 runs off 14 balls to take India past the finish line. With 15 runs needed off 15 balls, India lost Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh in quick succesion, but Rinku made sure that India avoided a defeat.