(Cricket news) Australia defeated India in the 1st T20I by 4 wickets and 4 balls to spare. Aaron Finch had won the toss and elected to bowl first due to the dew factor. Cameron Green was asked to open the batting while Daniel Sams was selected as the 3rd seamer. Tim David made his much awaited debut while Josh Inglis also got an opportunity. India went with Dinesh Karthik ahead of Rishabh Pant while Jasprit Bumrah wasn't fit enough to play. Umesh Yadav returned to the Indian T20 side after 3 years while Harshal Patel also came back from his injury. 

Batting first India got off to a decent start despite losing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cheaply. KL Rahul scored an incredible 55 off 34 and showed what he is capable off if he plays freely. The Karnataka batter hit 4 fours in 3 sixes in his aggressive innings which got India off to a flyer. Suryakumar Yadav provided excellent support with his 25 ball 46 which included 2 boundaries and 4 maximums. The pair made the most of the powerplay hitting some exquisite strokes along the way but they couldn't manage to stick around for longer when they should have. From then on it was the Hardik Pandya show as the ace all-rounder scored 71 off just 30 balls. Despite not having a consistent partner at the other end he played an excellent knock to get India to a formidable total. His innings included 7 fours and 5 sixes all around the ground which just proves that he is at the peak of his powers. India managed to reach a total of 208/6 which was their highest ever T20I total against Australia. 

Australia also got off to a flying start thanks to Finch and Green. The latter was opening in international cricket for the first time and scored 61 off just 30 balls hitting 8 fours and 4 sixes. Steve Smith came into bat at number 3 and played a nice little cameo of 35. He hit 3 fours and a six in his 24 ball innings. India managed to pick up a few wickets to slow things down but Matthew Wade finished in exquisite style scoring 45 off 21 balls. Axar Patel was the only Indian bowler who was not expensive as he picked up 3/17. In a high scoring game Axar's bowling was extraordinary and it showed why he deserves to be in this Indian side. Umesh Yadav was expensive in his first over but came back well to pick up 2 wickets. He was only asked to bowl 2 overs and finished with the figures of 2/27. Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a day to forget as they leaked way too many runs as did Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal. India's bowling is a big problem and Jasprit Bumrah's return will solve a few problems but not all. The next match at Nagpur will be a must win for team India.

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