Colombo, September 28: David Warner and Shane Watson blasted their way to propel Australia to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over India in the Super Eight match of the ICC World Twenty20 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Warner remained unbeaten on 63 off 41 to take Australia to victory target of 141/1 in 14.5 overs. Warner and Watson stitched 133-run stand in just 13.3 overs to pile misery on Indian bowlers and ensured Australia's victory over listless India.
Yuvraj Singh was the lone Indian bowler who got rid of dangerous Watson. Watson notched up 28-ball fifty, smashing six huge sixes and a four as he took the full advantage of clueless Indian bowling. Warner, on the other hand, also complimented his partner with a 37-ball fifty, smacking six fours and two sixes.
Chasing 141-run target, the Warner and Watson duo gave Australia steady start as they took team's fifty in 6.4 overs.
Earlier, Indian batsmen struggled to tackle the top class Australian bowling as they were restricted to modest 140/7. Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh were remained unbeaten on 12 and 1 respectively.
Australian fast bowlers on a roll as they sent half of the Indian batsmen back to the pavilion inside 12 overs. Shane Watson was pick of the Aussie bowler, capturing three wickets including the prize scalp of Yuvraj Singh.
Shane Watson struck twice in one over to dismiss Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan and left India struggling at 74/4 in 11 overs. Mitchell Starc also joined the party in the next over by removing Rohit Sharma to put India in deep trouble.
Pat Cummins struck in his first over of the second spell to give Australia huge breakthrough, dismissing Virat Kohli. Kohli and Irfan Pathan tried to build on the Indian innings, adding 35 runs for the second wicket in 26 balls. It was rare failure for Kohli, who contributed 15 runs with the help of two boundaries.
India suffered early blow when Gautam Gambhir got run-out by Australian pacer Cummins. The southpaw started off well as he smashed three fours in his 17 runs knock off 12 balls after Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat against Australia.
India made the good use of the mandatory powerplay after losing the vice-captain as Irfan Pathan and Virat Kohli took the team past fifty-run mark in six overs.
India made two changes, bringing in Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan in place of Ashok Dinda and L Balaji. Dhoni stuck with his plans of playing five specialist bowlers as he decided not to get Virender Sehwag back in the squad.
Teams:
India: Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (captain & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and Zaheer Khan.
Australia: David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, George Bailey(captain), Glenn Maxwell, Matthew (wk), Dan Christian, Brad Hogg, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
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