Virat Kohli bowls two overs as Team India try exploring bowling options
India 153 for 2 (Rohit 60, Rahul 39, Suryakumar 38*) beat Australia 152 for 5 (Smith 57, Maxwell 37, Stoinis 41*, Ashwin 2-8) by seven wickets
Right before the commencement of the ICC T20 World Cup, India are looking in great touch winning their 2nd warm-up game by a comfortable margin of 6 wickets with 2.1 overs to spare.
Australia’s intent to bat first was tamed by good spin in the powerplay overs on what seemed a slow and grippy surface in Dubai. Ashwin bowled to his strengths taking two wickets in the 2nd over and tapering off the possibility of quick runs with the harder ball, while the Indian batters Rohit Sharma 60 (41), KL Rahul 39 (31) and Suryakumar Yadav 38*(27) played what seemed almost effortless innings to get the team home.
Australia restricted to sub-par score of 152/5 on sluggish surface
The Australian team coming into the warm-up games looked to gain match time as well as clarity about their playing combinations. Their openers in David Warner and Aaron Finch who have had little cricket coming into the big tournament were slow to start off with and Australia were pulled back even more with Ashwin’s brilliant two consecutive wickets in the second over.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were rested for this game while Ishan Kishan took the gloves instead of Rishabh Pant. Finch got out leg before shortly after in the 4th over off Jadeja. With the intention of the warm-up game being to test out different combinations and provide playing time to the squad, India bowled 7 bowlers including Virat Kohli who went at an economical rate of 6 in his 2 overs bowled.
As Hardik Pandya looks unlikely to be included as an all-rounder due to injury concerns, the Indian team seem to be looking for a part time 6th bowling option if need be.
Smith and Glenn Maxwell got in a partnership of 61 runs, rebuilding the innings after the fall of early wickets and later changed gears to amp the scoring rate. Post the 10-over mark, Maxwell played in usual fashion of reverse sweeping the spinners across the ground with a few shots in the cover region. Marcus Stoinis played the role of the finisher perfectly, coming in to hit 41 off 21 balls to get Australia to a below-par score of 152/5.
Varun Chakravarthy who didn’t bowl in the previous match bowled 2 overs in the death at a slightly high economy of 11.50. The Indian team management seem to be hoping to fit him in this role in a 2-seamer and 3-spinner combination.
Read More: ICC T20 WC 2021 - Warm-up - India beat England by 7 wickets; Kishan, Rahul score belligerent 50s
Rahul continues from where he left; Rohit, Surya amongst runs too
The Indian batters who are in great touch post their stint in IPL, continued their good form as openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma played a solid game partnering to register 68 runs in 9 overs. Rohit hit 60 off 41 displaying effortless timing while playing the ball late. He retired out with only 26 runs required to win.
Surya coming in at 3 post Rahul’s wicket took centrestage, playing glorious shots off the short deliveries and striking all across the ground with his patented great wrist work.
Team Management will look to amp power-hitting to register big first innings scores
India have comfortably won in both their warm-up games before their campaign begins next week. They chased well in both the games and the team management will also look to amp their power-hitting to register big scores batting first as above-200 scores were par for course in ICC T20 World Cup 2016 in India. The top teams in Super 12 will look to amplify this time-tested strategy. Read More: ICC T20 WC 2021 – Round 1, Group B, Ban vs Oman –Shakib, Mustafizur save Bangladesh from elimination