Daijiworld Medi Network

Rajkot, Oct 10 : Coulter-Nile to Raina, out Caught by Shane Watson!! Poor shot by Raina after hitting a six of the previous delivery. This was a back of a length delivery on middle, Raina makes room and tries to pull but does not get it off the middle as he finds Watson who runs back from mid on to take a good catch. Raina c Shane Watson b Coulter-Nile 19(13) [4s-2 6s-1]

Earlier, Aaron Finch threatened to carry Australia way over 200 but his exit in the 17th over helped India keep the visitors to 201 in the solitary T20. After being put in by MS Dhoni, Finch and debutant Nic Maddinson kickstarted the innings with a 56-run partnership inside five overs. Wickets fell regularly after that, though, and Finch's fall for 89 robbed Australia of a big finish as 29 came off the final four.

That Australia were going to breach the 200-mark seemed a foregone conclusion the way they started. Anything pitched up with slight width from the fast bowlers disappeared for boundaries. It was the manner in which the openers attacked the offspin of R Ashwin that stood out. Maddinson, 21, calmly stepped out to Ashwin's first delivery and lofted it cleanly over extra cover for four. Finch set about cutting and lofting with intent, and Ashwin's first over had cost India 17.

Maddinson made 34 and showed glimpses of his highly-rated talent in the 16 deliveries he faced. Ishant Sharma was welcomed with consecutive pulled boundaries. When Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled it slow and wide, Maddinson adjusted his walk to carve him over point. However, he gave it away next ball with a missed slog to be bowled.

Vinay Kumar now recovered more ground for India, getting Shane Watson and George Bailey in the eighth over. Finch, meanwhile, kept battering boundaries, generating immense power and finding gaps consistently. He was swift and brutal on the cut, played the lofted drive repeatedly and when he went to cow corner, it was more timing and placement than slogging.

Glenn Maxwell showed Australia were in no mood to relent even momentarily, swinging Ashwin for three sixes in the tenth over as the score zoomed to 114 for 3 at the halfway stage of the innings. Ashwin's figures read 2-0-41-0, and Dhoni was forced to turn to Virat Kohli's mediums for a couple of costly overs.

Ravindra Jadeja, who had gone for plenty in the recent Champions League T20, had Maxwell mishit to long-on to cut his charge short at 27 off 13. Finch clubbed a high full toss straight to Vinay some time later. The blow split the webbing on the bowler's left wrist, but that did not deter him from sending down a couple of tight overs. It needed a last-ball six off Ishant from James Faulkner to take the score past 200, but with dew around, Australia would have wanted a few more at the death.