Zeenews Bureau
Melbourne, Feb 01: Australia won their first ever Twenty20 international match against the Indians as they made a mockery of the Indian attack and cruised to victory in a one sided affair. Chasing just 75 for a win, the Aussie openers took the attack to the Indian bowlers and came within sniffing distance of the winning score before Gilchrist was out while attempting to launch the ball for a six.
The job was finished by Michael Clarke and Brad Hodge, who took the Aussies home with 9 wickets and 70 balls to spare.
Earlier, the Indians got their first breakthrough of the innings as Praveen Kumar induced Adam Gilchrist into a false shot to be caught at long-on for 25. Gilchrist had just blasted a six and was out trying to hit another one as Australia looked to overhaul the Indian total of 74 quickly.
The Aussie opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke were off to a cautious start as the Indian opening pacers bowled a tight line and length in their attempt to restrict Australia to a score of less than 74. Both Clarke and Gilchrist were looking to milk the Indian bowlers for singles with the occasional lofted shot in between.
Earlier, the Indian batsmen failed to live up to their world champion image as they were bundled out for a paltry 74. Irfan Pathan was the only Indian who managed to reach double figures with a score of 26. Pathan was the last man out while Ishant Sharma remained unbeaten on 3.
Failing to last their quota of 20 overs, the Indian batsmen avoided a major embarrassment as they managed to evade the lowest ever score in a Twenty20 international, which is 73 by Kenya.
The Indians were in deep trouble as they lost the wickets of Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth in quick succession.
Earlier, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to resurrect the Indian innings as he departed after a painstakingly slow knock of 9 runs off 27 balls. Dhoni was out as he tried to lift a David Hussey delivery over mid wicket.
India were off to a nightmarish start in the one off Twenty20 match being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here today. The Indian batsmen fell like nine pins as the Aussie bowlers continued to bowl a disciplined line and length. Rohit Sharma was clean bowled by James Hopes for 8 runs.
The Aussie bowlers demolished the Indian top order. India lost four of its batsmen in the first four overs itself.
Looking to recover after losing the early wickets of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, India suffered another blow as one drop batsman Dinesh Karthick was dismissed cheaply while trying to hit a Brett Lee full toss. Karthick was clean bowled after scoring just 8 runs.
India suffered an early blow as hard hitting batsman Virender Sehwag was run out without scoring. Sehwag was out as a result of a brilliant throw by Michael Clarke.
Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat in the one off Twenty20 match being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma
Australia: Michael Clarke (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Brett Lee, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Bracken and Ben Hilfenhaus, Adam Voges.
