Wade blitzkrieg floors India

Visitors batting comes a cropper again as clinical Australia take 1-0 lead

Induction of youth was expected to bring a change of fortune for India, but even that wasn’t sufficient for them to register their first win on their tour of Australia.

Matthew Wade, David Hussey and David Warner produced thunderous knocks of varying duration to power Australia to a formidable 171 for four, and then restricted the visitors to 140 for six for a 31-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20 series at the ANZ Stadium on Wednesday.

There was a hope of Indian top order finding its mojo in the shorter format after their travails in the Tests, but Brett Lee winkled out Virender Sehwag in the first over to deal a massive blow to the Indian chase, and after that they rarely managed to build a steady partnership.

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli indicated an Indian surge during their 37-run alliance for the second wicket, dishing out some well-timed hits to the ropes.

Kohli shimmied down the track to hammer Lee over long on for a six, a shot that oozed his and India’s intent.

Australia skipper George Bailey introduced Brad Hogg, and the 41-year old chinaman bowler, who was donning national colours after four years, fetched reward in his first over, jettisoning Kohli. Thereafter, it was always going to be an uphill climb for India as the asking rate shot up.

There were some beefy shots by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni towards the end, but the task had already reached a stage of unattainable. Indians had those little moments of sunshine under cloudy skies, but it was Australia who stole all the thunder.

Thunder is a word we can safely associate with Warner, and it was not different on the day. Warner had struggled to read R Ashwin at Adelaide during the fourth Test, and that might have prompted Dhoni to hand the Chennai offie the new ball. Ashwin indeed started promisingly keeping Warner quiet in the first over, but the New South Wales left-hander soon sipped into his confident self, and the consequences were disastrous from an Indian perspective.

The homeboy smashed Ashwin for 6, 4, 6 off successive balls in the third over, including an astonishing switch-hit for maximum. But it was Wade who tormented India with a powerful blitz. There might have been a bit of pressure on Wade to perform as he was picked as a replacement for out of form Brad Haddin.

But if there was pressure, Wade masked it quite brilliantly to notch up a fifty (72, 43b, 5x4, 3x6) that would go a long way in opening more chances for him to play for the national team.

It was quite a remarkable innings as there was not a single moment when Wade, who was later adjudged man of the match, looked in trouble against Indian bowlers, unleashing a clutch of heavy shots to unsettle them. Warner departed after a useful opening stand of 38, and Travis Birt helped Wade to add another 41, but the second wicket alliance was relatively slow in tempo as the Australian run-rate dipped to just over eight.

The Indian bowlers had a superb chance to tighten the grip after Birt’s departure, caught inside the covers by Raina off an Aswhin full toss. But David Hussey ensured that Australia would not lose the momentum, playing a well-paced cameo. Hussey first allowed Wade to play his game, and then took control of the proceedings with a few big hits once his partner returned to the hut.

Hussey fell towards the backend of Australian innings but by then they had reached a position of strength, and the 59-run partnership between Dhoni and Ashwin helped only to reduce the margin of defeat.