Leggie turns perfect concussion substitute for injured Jadeja (44*) as his match-winning contribution of 3-25 helps visitors clinch first T20I against Australia by 11 runs
Yuzvendra Chahal celebrates Australia skipper Aaron Finch's wicket during the first T20I at Manuka Oval yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
It took an off-field incident to inject a bit of life in the first T20 International. The controversy came in the form of a heated discussion between match referee David Boon and Australia coach Justin Langer during the mid-innings break. Langer was visibly upset that Boon had allowed Yuzvendra Chahal to replace Ravindra Jadeja as a concussion substitute.
Indian opener KL Rahul en route his 51 against Australia. Pic/AFP
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To make matters worse for Langer, Chahal turned the match in India's favour with figures of 4-0-25-3. Chahal was awarded the man of the match as India beat Australia by 11 runs. In the post-match press conference, Moises Henriques questioned whether Chahal was a fair like-to-like replacement. The incident is bound to add more spark to the remainder of the series.
Newcomers impress
Importantly, India will be delighted to take a 1-0 lead in the series. While it was Jadeja's power-hitting at the end that propelled India to a score of 161-7, it was once again the newcomers that impressed the most. Deepak Chahar went for 13 off his first over, but conceded only 13 in the next three. The Australian middle-order failed to pick Chahar's knuckleball as he suffocated the batsmen with his cutters through the middle overs.
T Natarajan was once again outstanding with his angles, cutters and yorkers. The Tamil Nadu left-hander picked up the key wicket of the in-form Glenn Maxwell to give India a much-needed boost. Maxwell and Steven Smith perished in the ninth and 10th over respectively and from that moment onwards India were on top.
No doubt, the slow nature of the pitch suited the Indian bowlers, but it was the way they changed their pace and lengths that created plenty of headaches for the Australian batsmen. Washington Sundar was also outstanding with economical figures of 4-0-16-0. The off-spinner rarely bowled a bad ball and in the process, never allowed the batsmen to dictate terms.
India will take great satisfaction in the fact that it was their bowlers who won them the match. The fielding remains a problem with Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey dropping catches off successive deliveries.
Jadeja ruled out
Meanwhile, Jadeja was ruled out of the remainder of the T20 series after sustaining a concussion. Pacer Shardul Thakur is added to the T20 team, the BCCI said.
Brief scores
India 161-7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 51, R Jadeja 44*; M Henriques 3-22, M Starc 2-34) beat Australia 150-7 in 20 overs (A Finch 35; Y Chahal 3-25, T Natarajan 3-30) by 11 runs.
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