Producing yet another clinical performance both with the bat and ball, Team India hammerd Australia by eight wickets in their second warm-up game, ahead of the Super 12 stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on Wednesday.
The Indian spinners jolted their opponents at regular intervals, restricting them to a modest 152/5 in the allotted 20 overs.
Chasing 153 for victory, Indian openers KL Rahul (39 off 31) and Rohit Sharma (60 off 41) gave provided a decent start to their side.
The duo helped India cross the 50-run mark in 6.4 overs before Rahul fell to Ashton Agar in the 10th over.
While trying to clear the boundary, Rahul handed a catch to David Warner in the deep.
Soon, Rohit notched up his half-century with the help of a wonderful cut off Marcus Stoinis.
Suryakumar Yadav (38 off 27), who came aftre the fall of KL Rahul, too got some valuable runs under his belt.
When India was 26 runs away from crossing the line, Rohit decided to retire himself out and gave Hardik Pandya (14 off 8) some time to spend in the middle.
Hardik finally, sealed the game with a straight six, with 13 balls remaining.
Earlier, Australia skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bat against the Rohit Sharma-led Team India.
India started the proceeding with spin at one end as ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin packed back Aussie opener David Warner and Mitchell Marsh off consecutive balls in the very second over of the game.
Later, Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Finch off his first ball in the fourth over following which Steve Smith (57 off 48) and Glenn Maxwell (37 off 28) steadied the ship for Australia.
Just when it looked like the duo were getting in the groove, Rahul Chahar broke the partnership after scalping Maxwell in the 12th over of the game with a googly.
Smith soon brought up a well-deserved half-century after smashing Shardul Thakur for three consecutive fours while Marcus Stoinis remained unbeaten on 41 off 25 balls, helpinf their side post a fighting 152/5 at the end of 20 overs.
The Virat Kohli-led Team India will now begin their campaign at the showpiece event against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 at the Dubai International Cricket stadium in Dubai.
The Men In Blue, placed in the second group, will next face New Zealand on October 31 at the same venue before facing Afghanistan on November 3 in Abu Dhabi.
India will then take on the two of the four qualifiers on November 5 and 8 in Dubai.
The two semifinals will be held on November 10 and November 11 with the final to be played on November 14.
Brief Scores: India 153/2 (Rohit Sharma 60, KL Rahul 39; Ashton Agar 1/14) beat Australia 152/5 (Steve Smith 57, Marcus Stoinis 41; Ravichandran Ashwin 2/8) by 8 wickets.