Daily Times

India on Thursday defeated Australia by two wickets in last over thriller in the first of five match T20I series Visakhapatnam.

The Team Blue surpassed a strong target of 209 runs in 19.5 overs, thanks to a stunning innings from Surya Kumar Yadav who is leading India as captain in the series. He smashed 80 runs while Ishan Kishan made 58 to put their side in command after unimpressive start. After their dismissal, Rinku Singh held his nerves and made unbeaten 22 off 14 to bag victory for India in the nail-biting contest.

Earlier, Indian won the toss and put the visitors to bat first. Josh Inglis scored 110 runs off 50 balls that helped Aussies build a strong total. The encounter came less than a week after India and Australia met in the final of the Cricket World Cup, in which Pat Cummins and Co helped the Aussies won their sixth World Cup title.

Both teams looked much different than the World Cup sides, with many players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood were absent. The recently concluded Cricket World Cup in India was the “most watched” edition in the country ever, broadcaster Disney+ Hotstar said in a statement Thursday.

Australia won a record-extending sixth World Cup in a six-wicket win over India last week, capping 422 billion minutes of live television watched across the tournament in the cricket-mad nation. The final was watched by 130 million viewers on TV in India, the statement said.

The ICC said in a statement that the World Cup had been “the most attended ICC event ever”.

Its chair, Greg Barclay, said: “We are delighted with the success of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which has been the biggest Cricket World Cup ever.
“The event has been the most attended ICC World Cup ever with records shattered across broadcast and digital showcasing the support and interest for the one-day game.” The match between bitter adversaries India and Pakistan garnered 75 million views.