Australia v India, 4th Test T20 Series

Wade hits out as Australia score 171 for 4 in T20

SYDNEY: Matt Wade blasted 72 off 43 balls and David Warner hit a switch hit six to lift Australia to 171 for four in their opening Twenty20 international with India at the Sydney Olympic stadium on Wednesday.

Sent in by India, the Australians went 8.55 runs an over to set India a competitive target in light rain.

Wade hit three sixes and five fours opening the innings with Warner, who made 25 off 14 balls before he was the first wicket down.

Warner, coming off Australia’s 4-0 Test series win over India, thrilled the large crowd with an audacious six as he switched from his normal left handed grip to right hand to send the ball careering over deep extra cover into the stands.

Warner hit two sixes and took 19 off Ravi Ashwin’s second over before he was out when he skied Vinay Kumar to Suresh Raina at extra cover.

Wicketkeeper Wade raced to 70 before a rain delay affected his concentration and he was out two runs later after the restart in play.

David Hussey cracked 42 off 30 balls with three sixes and a four before he was out attempting a big slog only to be bowled by Rahul Sharma on the penultimate delivery of the innings.

Travis Birt was caught in the covers spooning a low full toss off Ashwin for 17 off 21 balls.

George Bailey, who made his international debut as captain, remained 12 not out off 11 balls.

India did well to restrict Australia to 40 runs off the 32 balls after the rain break and the wickets were shared among four bowlers with Raina the best at one for 22.

Teams:

Australia: George Bailey (capt), David Warner, Matthew Wade, Travis Birt, David Hussey, Mitchell Marsh, Daniel Christian, James Faulkner, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Xavier Doherty.

India: M.S. Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Pravin Kumar.

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS), Paul Reiffel (AUS)
TV umpire: Simon Fry (AUS)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)