India vs Australia T20 World Cup warm-up match highlights: India record comfortable win

India fine-tuned their T20 World Cup preparations with a convincing nine-wicket win over Australia in their final warm-up game in Dubai on Wednesday but the sixth bowler's slot remained a worry as even Virat Kohli rolled his arm over going into the tournament proper.

Captaining the side with Kohli only taking the field to bowl, Rohit Sharma (60 retired off 41) showed sublime touch alongside opening partner K L Rahul (39 off 31) as India chased down Australia's 152 for five in 17.5 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav (38 not out off 27) came at number three in Kohli's absence and got valuable time in the middle which should boost his confidence going ahead.

Hardik Pandya (14 not out off 8) came at four to finish the game and he did it with a clean hit over the bowler's head.

Another plus for India was seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finding rhythm after a poor outing against England. India had also beaten England in their earlier practice game.

The batting department looks more or less settled and the five specialist bowlers also inspire confidence but the same can't be said about the extra bowling option with Hardik not bringing his all-round skills to the table at the moment.

"Hardik is coming along pretty well, but it'll be a while before he will start to bowl. He hasn't started bowling, but he should be ready by the start of the tournament," said Rohit at the toss for the warm-up match against Australia.

The team management is hoping he will be ready to bowl during India's World Cup campaign which begins with the marquee clash against Pakistan on Sunday.

Skipper Kohli kept things tight with two overs of medium pace but to expect him to do the job in high-pressure scenarios would be asking for too much from him.

India conceded 58 runs off the last five overs and that is something they would like to improve on.

After losing the toss, India put up a decent bowling effort.

Rohit mentioned at the toss that Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were rested from the game but the skipper took the field to bowl a couple of overs in which he conceded 12 runs.

India had Australia on the mat at 11 for three after Aaron Finch opted to bat first. David Warner's barren run continued after a failed attempt at a reverse sweep had him trapped in front off Ravichandran Ashwin.

With his very next ball, Ashwin got rid of birthday boy Mitchell Marsh who played for the turn which wasn't there only to edge it to the first slip.

Ravindra Jadeja had Finch trapped LBW with a slider off his very first ball, leaving Australia with a lot of work to do.

Steve Smith (57 off 48) and in-form Glenn Maxwell (37 off 28) tried to break the shackles with a 61-run partnership.

While Maxwell used his reverse sweep to good effect, Smith kept himself busy by rotating the strike.

After Maxwell fell to a conventional sweep, Smith and Marcus Stoinis (41 not out off 25 balls) got together and provided a much needed final flourish to the innings.

Smith smashed Shardul Thakur for three successive fours in the 17th over before Stoinis hit a straight six and a boundary off mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who conceded 23 runs off his two overs.

After a bad day in office against England, Bhuvneshwar found his rhythm and was effective both at the start and in the death.

India, however, would be a tad disappointed to give away so many runs in the death overs and help Australia's recovery. 

(PTI)

And with today's win, India now have two wins in the two warm-up games and with both the wins coming against top teams like England and Australia, the players will surely have more confidence going into the Super 12s. 

The Men in Blue are scheduled to take on arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, October 24 in their first game of the Campaign. 

And that's a wrap! Hardik Pandya finishes the game in style. 

The ball is right in the slot and Pandya moves deep in his crease and hits it straight over the bowler's head for a maximum! And this should give the player some confident going into the World Cup

Hardik Pandya hasn't performed with the bat lately nor has he rolled his arm since undergoing a lower-back surgery last year. While India just need 13 runs off 17 balls, can we see Hardik Pandya get a couple of boundaries and find his form ahead of the crucial World Cup matches?

Rohit Sharma has put India in a pole position in this chase and after a brilliant  60 off 41 has decided to retire not out to make way for Hardik Pandya. 

Hardik Pandya had a poor IPL 2021 UAE leg and the player's batting form has been an area of concern given that the all-rounder hasn't been bowling. The player has another opportunity today to finish things for India and get some confidence going into the Super 12s. 

50 up for Rohit Sharma. He has played an absolutely beautiful inning, first combining with KL Rahul for the 1st wicket partnership and now has taken charge of accelerating the innings. 

 

David Warner runs backwards and pulls off a great overhead catch to dismiss KL Rahul and Australia finally have their first breakthrough. India are 69/1 in 9.2

India have looked in control so far with both the openers getting them runs. KL Rahul has continued his fine form from the last game into this one, with Rohit Sharma, who had a quite low IPL getting back his form ahead of the much-awaited T20 World Cup Super 12s. 

At the end of the powerplay overs, India finds themselves in a comfortable position. Openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have given India a solid start with both the batters scoring 21 and 20 runs respectively

The Indian openers have got the team off to a quick start. At the end of the 2nd over India are 17/0 

KL Rahul and skipper Rohit Sharma have walked out for the chase. Team India need 153 runs off 120 balls to win the contest.

Rahul will take the strike with Mitchell Starc to get the proceedings started for the Aussies

Despite the Men in Blue resting two of their key bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the team was able to perform quite well and put the pressure on the Aussies. Ashwin and Jadeja were good for India upfront picking up key wickets and keeping the opposition at bay. 

However, Steve Smith steadied the ship and was well assisted first by Glenn Maxwell and then Marcus Stoinis who helped the team put up a defendable total of 152. 

As for India, the team boast a strong batting line-up and will hope to get over the line. 

Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis stead the ship before going all out and helping Australia set up a fighting total of 152. 

The Aussies were 102/4 at the end of the 16th over but from there on they took the Indian bowlers to cleaners scoring 50 runs of the final four overs. 

The Aussies have made a comeback into this game courtesy to brilliant batting from both ends. Marcus Stoinis and Steve Smith have shifted gears and are going all out. The team will now be eyeing for a good finish

Excellent batting from Steve Smith here. He has managed to score three consecutive boundaries off Shardul Thakur and has put the bowler under some pressure. 

Rohit Sharma walks up to the bowler to have a chat with him.

With India introducing Varun Chakravarthy in the 16th overs, giving a chance to all of its spinners. With five overs to go Australia will look to attack and get a fighting total on board. 

Rahul Chahar has bowled over Glenn Maxwell, who was starting to settle in and go for the big shots. With this wicket, the Aussies are now four down for 72

At the halfway mark Australia finds themselves at 57/3. Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell have stood their ground and have made some sort of a rebuild here. 

Rohit Sharma mentioned during the toss that India will look to figure out their sixth bowling option given that Hardik Pandya isn't fully fit to return back to bowling. 

The stand-in skipper had said that fans might get to see him along with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav trying to chip in and the Indian fans did get to see King Kohli roll his arm over. 

Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell have slowly started the repair work and have begun to rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard moving. At the end of the Powerplay, the Aussies are 34/3

Ravindra Jadeja introduced early into the attack struck off his first ball in the fourth over trapping the Aussies skipper Aaron Finch with his speed and accuracy. 

Ravichandran Ashwin has given India a great start, first picking up the wicket of David Warner trapping him LBW before getting birthday boy Mitch Marsh off the first ball at the slips

Wicket-keeper: Rishabh Pant

Batters: KL Rahul, Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma (C)

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Glenn Maxwell (VC), Hardik Pandya

Bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Rahul Chahar, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins

Wicket-keeper: Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan

Batters: KL Rahul (C), Marcus Stoinis, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Aston Agar (VC)

Bowlers: Adam Zampa, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Ashwin, Pat Cummins

Rohit Sharma is captaining the Indian side today as Virat Kohli looks to get some rest ahead of India's clash against Pakistan. 

At the toss, Australia have won and have decided to bat first!

The India vs Australia match is scheduled to start at 3:30 PM IST. Here are the Live Streaming details as to Where and When to watch the T20 World Cup India vs Australia in India, UAE, and the UK.

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Ishan Kishan (VC) Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah. 

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and Pat Cummins

Team India will square off against Australia in their second warm-up match at the ICC Academy in Dubai. 

India comes into this fixture having defeated England by seven wickets in their first warm-up game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. While Australia too comes into this clash having edged past New Zealand in their warm-up game.

The Men in Blue will look to finalize their starting XI going into the Super 12s. During their warm-up game against England India used only five bowlers with Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja not being involved. 

Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin ensured they bowled tight lines and contained the English batters while Mohammed Shami was the star bowler picking up three wickets but went way for 40.

Rahul Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a poor day at the office, conceding 43 runs and 54 runs off their four overs respectively. While Chahar picked up a wicket, Bhuvneshwar went wicketless. In today's warm-up game, the duo will continue to get some overs but need to make the most of the opportunity if they want to make it to India's XI.

For Australia, their focus will be on their batting which did not fare really well during the opening warm-up game with five players chipping in small cameos of 20+ runs to help the Aussies manage to chase down their target. 

Taking about the venue for today's clash, the pitch at the ICC Academy Ground will be favourable to the batters. The ball does come quite nicely onto the bat and fans can expect a high-scoring contest. 

Team India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Steve Smith, David Warner, Matthew Wade, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Kane Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa.