Brisbane: After a breathtaking spell against Australia in his side’s first official match of the ICC T20 World Cup, Indian pacer Mohammad Shami expressed happiness on his return to the field playing for the Men in Blue.
A brilliant knock from KL Rahul and a three-wicket haul masterclass by Mohammed Shami helped India inflict a 6 runs defeat on Australia and bundled out the hosts for 180 in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup warm-up match here at the Gabba in Brisbane on Monday.
“Thank you everyone for your love and support. The hard work is paying off. Just feels great to be back on the field, playing for #TeamIndia. Onwards and upwards.#mdshami11,” tweeted Shami.
Coming to the match, Men in Blue posted 186/7 in their 20 overs. Half-centuries from KL Rahul (57 off 33 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (50 off 33 balls) helped India reach a competitive score.
Medium pacer Kane Richardson (4/30) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Mitchell Starc, Ashton Agar and Glenn Maxwell took a wicket each.
Chasing 187, contributions from captain Aaron Finch (76 off 54 balls), Mitchell Marsh (35 off 18 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (23 off 16 balls) kept Australia in the driver’s seat for majority of their innings.
Australia needed 16 runs in the final two overs. The penultimate over from pacer Harshal Patel saw two wickets falling, one of them due to a superb rocket throw from Virat Kohli. Only five runs came off that over.
Australia needed 11 runs in the final over and it was Shami who came to bowl it. After conceding four runs in the first two balls, Shami was involved in four dismissals on the next four balls, including a runout.
From cruising at 171/4 in 18 overs, Australia witnessed a collapse of epic proportions, losing six wickets for just nine runs within a space of 12 balls.
Shami finished his one over by giving away four runs and taking three wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2/20 in his three overs. Harshal, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal took a wicket each.
Men in Blue will next play New Zealand in their second and final warm-up match on October 19.
At the ICC competition, India is in Group 2 with Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and two qualifiers.
Following their October 23 encounter against Pakistan at the MCG, they will play on October 27, against a qualifier in Sydney, on October 30, against South Africa in Perth, on November 2, against Bangladesh in Adelaide, and on November 6. (vs qualifier in Melbourne).
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami.
