India have beaten Australia by 2 wickets in the first of the five-match T20I series at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (November 23). India won the toss and elected to bowl first and were set up a target of 209 runs with Josh Inglis scoring a fantastic hundred (110 off 50). However, Suryakumar Yadav's blistering knock (80 off 42) meant India ended up on the winning side in a match that went to the last over, to take a 1-0 lead series.
Other than Suryakumar's innings, Ishan Kishan also played a part, scoring 58 off 39 as India registered their highest successful chase in T20I internationals. The duo added 112 runs off the 60 balls for the third wicket after India lost both their openers inside the powerplay which became the foundation of India's victory. In the end, it needed a Rinku Singh special too to help India cross the line who remained unbeaten on 22 off 14 with the six off the last ball which he hit with one needed off one not counting against his name as it turned out to be a no-ball.
Earlier, a 130-run partnership off 66 balls between Steven Smith and Inglis had helped the Aussies get to the score that they eventually posted. Smith made 52 off 41 while Tim David chipped in with 19* off 13. With the ball Ravi Bishnoi and Prasidh Krishna were the only wicket-takers, going for 50 and 54 runs respectively. Arshdeep Singh went wicketless in his 4 overs, going at 10.25 runs per over. Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar were bit economical conceding 32 and 29 runs respectively in their 4 overs.
For Australia, Tanveer Sangha, Sean Abbott, Matthew Short and Jason Behrendorff were the wicket-takers but their bowling effort wasn't enough to stop India from chasing down the total. The two teams will now lock horns in the second T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (November 26).