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In-form Suryakumar Yadav and new-ball bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India start off their preparations for T20 World Cup 2022 with a win over Western Australia. Suryakumar’s half-century followed by a swing-bowling exhibition saved India from a loss after a collective mediocre batting display.
Experiment fails, Hooda's return
Rishabh Pant was again tried as an opener in the practice match. Rohit Sharma's struggled against left-arm pacers continued as he edged one to Cameron Bancroft off Jason Behrendorff's bowling. Rohit could score just three runs from four deliveries he faced. On the other end, Pant was unable to rotate the strike or hit a big shot.
Deepak Hooda returned to the middle after injury. Hooda made use of the fielding restrictions nad hit two fours and one six during his 14-ball stay at the crease. Hooda's 22-run cameo came to an end as Behrendorff struck again. Meanwhile, the dot ball pressure finally got to Pant and he got out to Andrew Tye in an attempt to slog. The southpaw scored just nine runs from 16 balls he faced.
Suryakumar shines again
Suryakumar's purple patch continued as he not only anchored the innings till slog overs but scored quickly as well. Pandya and Suryakumar shared a 51-run partnership for the fourth wicket to help India recover. Matthew Kelly broke the partnership with the wicket of Pandya in the 13th over. The all-rounder scored 27 runs from 20 deliveries including one four and a six.
India's designated finisher Dinesh Karthik came in to bat earlier than his usual position but did not make an impact. Karthik struggled to score boundaries. Suryakumar continued to attack and hit three sixes and as many fours to get to his half-century. Suryakumar's knock came to an end in the 18th over. Andrew Tye got the prized wicket for hosts. He scored 52 runs from 35 deliveries.
Axar Patel hit a boundary during his short 10-run stay at the crease. Harshal Patel scored five runs from four deliveries including a boundary. Karthik disappointed in the slog overs as he could score just 19 runs from 23 deliveries.
Swing-bowling display
India's new-ball bowlers made an impact straightaway. D'Arcy Short lost his wicket to Bhuvneshwar Kumar after hitting him for two boundaries. Arshdeep Singh struck twice in his first over to get rid of opener Nick Hobson (1) and Aaron Hardie (0).
Bhuvneshwar got another big wicket in his second over. Skipper Ashton Turner got out for a four-ball duck. Western Australia were reduced to 12/4 in the third over itself.
Bancroft and Sam Fanning helped the hosts recover from early batting collapse. In the 10th over, Yuzvendra Chahal outclassed Bancroft. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 22 runs from 15 deliveries. Fanning made up for the dot deliveries in the middle-overs and attacked the bowlers including Harshal and Hooda.
Arshdeep came back into the attack and ended Western Australia's hopes of chasing the target down with Fanning's wicket. He scored 59 runs from 53 deliveries including five fours and one six. Hamish McKenzie contributed with a run-a-ball 19 before becoming Chahal's second victim of the day. Tye became the only consolation for Harshal after going for plenty in his quota of four overs. Kelly had his fun at the crease with a four and six in the final over but his side lost the game by 13 runs. Arshdeep conceded just six runs from three overs he bowled including a maiden.
