Dhawan and Kohli shine as India start Australia tour with victory
Seventies from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli guided India to a 74-run victory over Western Australia XI in a twenty 20 warm up match at Perth on Friday to start the tour Down Under with a victory.
Brief Scores:India 192/4 in 20 overs (Kohli 74(44), Dhawan 74(46), Dhoni 22(14), Duffield 1/21) defeated Western Australia XI 118/6 in 20 overs (Birt 74*(60), Jadeja 13/2, Axar Patel 13/2, Sran 24/2) by 74 runs
Having won the toss, Indian captain M S Dhoni decided to bat first to give his batsmen a chance to get used to the conditions. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma opened the innings for India, and the duo looked comfortable at the crease before Rohit ran himself out for six. Dhawan announced his arrival in Australia with a flick off the pads off Josh Nicholas for a boundary in his first ball. He then dispatched the Western Australian bowler again to the ropes in the fourth over with two lovely cover drives.
As the mandatory powerplay overs came to close at the end of the sixth over, Dhawan pulled Matthew Kelly over the fine leg for the first six of the match to take India to 40. With Dhawan going all guns blazing at the other end, Virat Kohli cleverly gave him the strike by picking up singles. He finally joined the party in the fourth over by dispatching leg spinner Liam O'Connor for consecutive boundaries.
The Indian Test captain upped the ante in the next over to send David Moody over the square leg for a six. As the midway mark arrived, Dhawan and Kohli looked extremely comfortable at the crease with 76 runs on board at the loss of one wicket. Dhawan brought up his fifty shortly after the midway mark with a lovely straight drive over the bowler’s head. India crossed the hundred mark in the 13th over with a cover drive from Kohli finding its way to the ropes.
The duo brought up their hundred-run partnership from 69 balls in the next over with Kohli sending the ball past the bowler for a one. Kohli went berserk in the next over dispatching David Moody for consecutive boundaries and a giant six to bring up his fifty. Moody conceded a total of 24 runs in the 15th over with Dhawan and Kohli sending a flurry of shots to the boundary. Kohli continued his attacking style by sending Josh Nicholas for a four and six before edging a ball to keeper for 74.
Dhoni walked in next and went all guns blazing from the word go by sending Nicholas to the ropes for a six with a hook shot. With India going for quick runs, Dhawan departed next falling for a well-made 74 to Matthew Kelly. Captain Dhoni was joined by Rahane for the last overs and the Indian skipper sent Josh Nicholas over the square leg boundary to take India past 180. Gurkeerat Singh also got a look-in in the last delivery after Rahane’s departure to take India to 192/4 at the end of 20 overs.
Chasing the target of 193, WA started the innings steadily negotiating rookie left-arm pacer Barinder Sran and Umesh Yadav. The first wicket for the Indians on the tour fell in the third over with Sran removing D'Arcy Short with a short delivery. The ball hurried to Short and took the edge of his bat for an easy catch for Ashwin at midwicket. Sran added another to his kitty in his third over with a short-of-a-length delivery to remove William Bosisto.
Dhoni replaced Umesh Yadav with Rishi Dhawan in the last over of the powerplay, and the all-rounder received a brutal welcome from Travis Birt, who dispatched him for consecutive boundaries. Birt and Josh Inglis slowly steadied the WA innings and took them past the fifty-run mark without any more departures.
Dhoni introduced spinners Ashwin and Jadeja into the attack after the powerplay, and the WA batsmen struggled against them with the ball slowing down. Jadeja broke the 35-run partnership between Birt and Inglis in the 11th over with Inglis falling for 11. Jadeja added another to his kitty in the next over after Nick Hobson fell to a quick stumping from Dhoni.
With the run rate inching closer to 10, WA batsmen went for quick runs and perished without much result. Apart from Travis Birt, who scored 74 off 60 balls, none of the other WA batsmen were able to negotiate the Indian bowling. WA finished their innings at 118/6 in the allotted 20 overs giving India a 74-run victory in their first match of the tour. Among the bowlers, Sran, Jadeja and Axar Patel chipped in with two wickets to each to round off a good day for India.
India will once again take on Western Australia XI in a 50-over match tomorrow at Perth before the ODI series against Australia starts on January 12. (Read: India has a good chance against depleted Australia - Srinath) Â