IND v AUS 2023: "Indians came hard at us"- Matthew Wade on Australia's loss in first T20I

The second T20I will be played on November 26 in Thiruvananthapuram.

By Rashmi Nanda - 24 Nov, 2023

Australia’s stand-in captain Matthew Wade said that Team India came hard at them after the hosts won the opening game of the ongoing five-match T20I series by two wickets in Vishakhapatnam on November 23.

Wade further admitted that Australian bowlers failed to nail their yorkers, and young Indian batters punished them to successfully chase down the 209-run target in the final over.

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Matthew Wade said at the post-match presentation: “It was a good match in the end. Inglis got us a score we thought we could defend but the Indians came hard at us. These young Indians play a lot of IPL and T20 cricket. Thought we bowled pretty well, just could not nail our yorkers, easier said than done especially on a small ground like this.”

However, the star wicketkeeper batter hailed Josh Inglis for his brilliant century in Visakhapatnam.

He further added, “A lot of positives to take out from this game. Inglis was class. We thought we did fairly well, Ellis bowled a big over for us to take it into the final over, it went down to the last ball so it shows how close it was.”

Coming back to the first T20I, Australia managed to post 208/3 on the board after being asked to bat first, thanks to Inglis’ stunning 110 and Steve Smith’s brilliant fifty in Visakhapatnam. For India, Prasidh Krishna and Ravi Bishnoi each scalped one wicket each.

Read Also: “Rohit doesn't need to be taught to score hundreds”: Ashwin defends Indian skipper’s aggressive approach in World Cup final

Chasing the target, the Men in Blue had a poor start, losing opener Ruturaj Gaikwad for a duck (run-out), and then his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal fell for 21. However, India’s stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav (80) and Ishan Kishan (52) were enough to give the team an advantage.

In the end, Rinki Singh also contributed 22* off 14 balls in Team India’s win over Australia in the first T20I on Thursday. 

(ANI inputs)

By Rashmi Nanda - 24 Nov, 2023

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