Shocking! India lose their second warm-up game against Western Australia by 36 runs
India locked horns with Western Australia in the second practice ahead of the 20-20 World Cup. India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh provided India with the early breakthrough dismissing Josh Philippe. After the early blow, D Arcy Short and Nick Hobson took their team out of trouble as they got involved in a 110-run partnership for the second wicket.
Harshal Patel finally ended the partnership in the 15th over by dismissing Nick Hobson, who scored a brilliant 64 off 41 balls. The well-set D Arcy Short also lost his wicket quickly as he got involved in a run-out. The Western Australia team suffered a major collapse following Short’s wicket with no batter being able to set his eye in.
After looking to go past 180 at one stage, Western Australia ended their innings with the score of 168/8 after 20 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up three wickets for 32 runs in his four overs. Harshal Patel picked up two wickets for 27 runs in his four overs.
The Indian team tried a new opening combination of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. The pair only lasted 29 balls as Pant departed after scoring 9 off 11 balls. India kept losing wickets from one end as no batter could get set at the crease. Big names like Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik could only add 17 and 10 runs to the total respectively.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul looked in fine touch at one end as he played a free-flowing innings. The opener brought out his majestic shots on display and kept India in the hunt throughout the chase. He finally lost his wicket in the 19th over leaving India at 128/6. Rahul departed after scoring a magnificent 74 off 55 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes.
With the failure of the entire batting order, India ended up losing the match by 36 runs. The youngsters failed to shine in the absence of senior pros. India will now face Australia in the official warm-up game on 17th October.
