India vs Australia as it happened: Yuvraj takes India to victory in thriller

2248 IST India: 202 for 4 after 19.4 overs Dhoni finishes the match off with a four and a couple but Yuvraj is the star of the game. He made 77 from 35 balls, with 8 fours and 5 sixes. The perfect way to cap a comeback to the India team and he could not have scripted it any better.2243 IST India are 195 for 4 after 19 overs Yuvraj slices Faulkner between third man and point to bring the equation down to a run-a-ball. He has turned the match on its head. 7 needed from the final over.

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2238 IST India are 187 for 4 after 18 overs Yuvraj is doing it all by himself. He lofts Coulter-Nile over cover for four and then blasts a low full toss over deep midwicket for six from the extra-delivery created by a wide. India need just 15 from the last two overs. Yuvraj has 70 from 31 balls. 2232 IST India are 173 for 4 after 17 overs Yuvraj brings up his 50 with a straight six off Faulkner, then just manages to clear the fielder on the square leg boundary with another 6. Took him just 25 balls to get to 50. He has hit 6 fours and 4 sixes. He is keeping India in the game single-handedly here. Faulkner panics and bowls wide down legside and it beats Haddin and goes for four wides. That’s 17 from the last two balls. 20 from the over. 29 needed from the last three overs now. 2226 IST India are 153 for 4 after 16 overs Yuvraj manages to pull Doherty between long-on and mid-wicket for four but only 7 come from the over. India need over 12 an over now. 2219 IST India are 146 for 4 after 15 overs Yuvraj dismantles McKay, pulling him for two sixes, though Watson almost caught him the second time. He held on to the ball, but couldn’t avoid the rope. 18 came from the 14th over, followed by Yuvraj driving Nathan Coulter-Nile over cover and through mid-off as 14 came from the 15th over. Dhoni and Yuvraj have added 46 from 3.5 overs. India need 56 from the last 5 overs. 2201 IST India are 100 for 4 after 11.1 overs OUT! Kohli can’t clear long-on. India in a trouble now. Kohli c Faulkner b McKay 29 (22b 2x4 1x6) 2200 IST India are 100 for 3 after 11 overs India need 111 runs from the last 10 overs. Kohli decides everything must go and deposits Doherty for six over long-on. The rest of the over yields just three more runs, however, the last a single to bring up India’s 100. 2157 IST India are 91 for 3 after 10 overs Yuvraj picks up his first boundary with a flick off Nathan Coulter-Nile. 2149 IST India are 80 for 3 after 8.3 overs OUT! Dhawan gets carried after cutting Xavier Doherty to the point boundary. Charges the bowler, who bowls it short and the bounce beats Dhawan, who is left stranded. Dhawan st †Haddin b Doherty 32 (19b 5x4 0x6) Yuvraj Singh is the new man. 2147 IST India are 74 for 2 after 8 overs Moises Henriques comes on and Kohli relieves the pressure by smashing past mid-on for four. He shows he can be delicate too, gliding Henriques to the third man boundary after giving him the charge. A misfield by Faulkner on the boundary gives Dhawan four runs too. 15 from the over. 2143 IST India are 59 for 2 after 7 overs Virat Kohli is the new man. Faulkner has dragged India back. Just six runs from his second over. The required run-rate has climbed to 11 now. 2135 IST India are 50 for 2 after 5.3 overs Raina brings up India’s 50 with a top-edged pull off Nathan Coulter-Nile that goes for six over fine leg. OUT! Raina is cramped trying to repeat the pull and loops a catch to midwicket. Raina c Watson b Coulter-Nile 19 (13b 2x4 1x6) 2133 IST India are 44 for 1 after 5 overs First change with Faulkner coming on to bowl the fifth over. He continues his good from from the CLT20, giving away five singles to slow India’s growing momentum. 2129 IST India are 39 for 1 after 4 overs Dhawan gives McKay the charge and picks up two boundaries through the offside. Raina gets in on the act too, working the ball through cover. 14 off the over. 2123 IST India are 25 for 1 after 3 overs Dhawan gets lucky when he goes to pull a Watson bouncer. The ball takes gloves but beats Haddin behind the stumps and goes to the fine leg boundary. Raina is much more in control when he flicks Watson square for another boundary. 2118 IST India are 14 for 1 after 2 overs Rohit flicks Clint McKay‘s first ball over backward square leg for six to get India’s chase going in earnest. OUT! It is a false dawn, though. Rohit chases one outside off that seams away and nicks it to the keeper. Sharma c †Haddin b McKay 8 (8b 0x4 1x6) 2113 IST India are 2 for no loss after 1 over Shane Watson opens the bowling. Rohit is the man on strike for five of the first six deliveries, which produce one wide and a single.

2056 IST Australia finish on 201 for 7 after 20 overs Ishant able to keep the Australia batsmen from the boundary for the first five balls but the last one is thumped over long-on for six by James Faulkner to take Australia to 201.

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2052 IST Australia are 190 for 7 after 19 overs Nathan Coulter-Nile manages manages to get one delivery thorugh the offside and to the fence but it was a good over from Vinay Kumar. He finishes with 3 for 25. 2047 IST Australia are 182 for 7 after 18 overs OUT! Australia losing the plot a bit here. Henriques gets a leading edge to a slower ball that loops to point. Henriques c Yuvraj Singh b Kumar 12 (12b 1x4 0x6) Bhuvi finishes with 3 for 35 from his four overs. 2041 IST Australia are 176 for 6 after 17 overs OUT! Somehow Vinay Kumar holds on to a return catch from Finch. It was was a full toss that Finch clubbed back to the bowler, who stuck out his left hand and the ball sticks in his fingers. Might have come off the inside part of the bat. Vinay Kumar has to get treatment as well. Finch c & b Vinay Kumar 89 (52b 14x4 1x6) Could be a crucial wicket for India. End of a spectacular innings from Finch. Vinay Kumar has 2 for 18 from 3 overs after giving away 10 runs in his first over. 2037 IST Australia are 172 for 5 after 16 overs Ishant returns and Finch picks up a full delivery and thumps it through the offside. Ishant tries again to get the yorker in but it’s a low full toss and Finch clubs this one between long-on and deep mid-on for four more. A wide delivery also gets the treatment. 17 from the over. 2031 IST Australia are 157 for 5 after 15 overs Jadeja has been exceptional in this game. Gives away just six runs from his final over. He finishes with 1 for 23 from his four. 2028 IST Australia are 151 for 5 after 14 overs OUT! Haddin doesn’t last long. He nicks a wide one from Bhuvi to Dhoni behind the stumps. Haddin c †Dhoni b Kumar 5 (3b 1x4 0x6) Bhuvi has 2 for 29 from three overs. 2023 IST After 13 overs, Australia are 143 for 4 Kohli comes back because Ashwin has been hemorrhaging runs. Unfortunately, the same thing happens to Kohli. Finch makes room and thumps him to the cover boundary then pads him down to the fine leg boundary for another four. 14 from the over. 2017 IST After 11.3 overs, Australia are 124 for 4 OUT! Maxwell attemps one big shot too many. Doesn’t get hold of a full delivery from Jadeja outside offstump and Ishant does well at long-on not to tread on the rope while taking the catch. Maxwell c I Sharma b Jadeja 27 (13b 0x4 4x6) Maxwell and Finch added 40 from 3.4 overs. 2016 IST After 11 overs, Australia are 124 for 3. With his regular bowlers being hammered, Dhoni turns to Kohli but the result is the same. Maxwell hammers him flat and hard over cow corner for the fourth six of his innings. 10 from the over. 2012 IST After 10 overs, Australia are 114 for 3. Finch gets to his 50 by helping Ashwin past short fine leg. Maxwell then piles into Ashwin, slog sweeping him for three consecutive sixes, each one bigger than the last. 24 runs from the over. 2008 IST After 9 overs, Australia are 90 for 3. The first over with no boundaries. Jadeja keeps the Aussies down to four singles. 2004 IST After 8 overs, Australia are 86 for 3. OUT! Vinay Kumar strikes against the run of play. Ball jags back a long way off a good length and beats Watson playing across the line. Watson lbw b Vinay Kumar 6 (5b 1x4 0x6) And Vinay does it again. This time it is a poor shot from George Bailey. Swivels to pull a short ball but doesn’t keep it down and picks out the fielder on the square boundary. Bailey c Jadeja b Vinay Kumar 0 (3b 0x4 0x6) 2000 IST After 7 overs, Australia are 82 for 1. Jadeja comes on. Finch makes room and Jadeja sees him and goes wide. Finch gets done on one knee and somehow reaches for the ball and smacks it over cover for six. Astonishing shot. But just 8 came from the over, the best one for India so far. Finch has 41 from 22 balls; Watson has 6 from 4. 1956 IST After 6 overs, Australia 74 for 1. Shane Watson is the new batsman. Ishant returns for his second over. Draws the edge from Finch but luck is riding Australia’s way and Ashwin can’t collect at third man and goes for for four. Watson shows he is in the mood too by slamming a full delivery past cover. 14 from the over. 1952 IST After 5 overs, Australia are 60 for 1. Bhuvi Kumar returns. Australia’s 50 comes up from 25 balls (4.1 overs). It has been mayhem in the early going here. OUT! Bhuvi Kumar does it for India again. Goes round the wicket and when Maddison misses with a cross-batted swipe, his offstump goes cartwheeling. Maddinson b Kumar 34 (16b 6x4 1x6) Ishant helps out Australia with a lazy bit of fielding at third man. Doesn’t get down fast enough and the ball ricochets off his hand and goes for four. 1945 IST After 4 overs, Australia are 48 for no loss. Dhoni turns to Ishant and Maddison absolutely creams his first ball for a huge six. Pulled it into the upper deck. The next one was short and his pulled past backward short leg for four more. India getting hammered here. 12 from the over. 1940 IST After 3 overs, Australia are 36 for no loss Dhoni brings on Ashwin in the third over but it backfires. Maddison charges him first ball and lofts him inside-out over cover. It gets worse against Finch, who gives himself room and cuts Ashwin square and then through the covers for a a couple of boundaries, before finishing things off by lofting a full delivery over cover for another four. 17 from the over. 1937 IST After 2 overs, Australia are 19 for no loss Maddinson carves a couple of full deliveries from Vinay Kumar for four. Those will calm any nerves on his debut. Anything full on this pitch is getting the treatment. 1934 IST Bhuvi Kumar opens the bowling for India. Aaron Finch lofts one over mid-on to get Australia going. Nic Maddison caps the over with a lovely straight drive off a full delivery that raced past the umpire. Nine from the first over. 1905 IST India have won the toss and will bowl first against Australia. MS Dhoni says Shami, Rayudu and Mishra are not playing this game. George Bailey would have batted first. Here are the playing XIs: Australia: GJ Bailey*, NM Coulter-Nile, XJ Doherty, JP Faulkner, AJ Finch, BJ Haddin†, MC Henriques, MG Johnson, CJ McKay, NJ Maddinson, GJ Maxwell, AC Voges, SR Watson. India: MS Dhoni*†, R Ashwin, S Dhawan, RA Jadeja, V Kohli, B Kumar, A Mishra, Mohammed Shami, SK Raina, AT Rayudu, I Sharma, RG Sharma, JD Unadkat, R Vinay Kumar, Yuvraj Singh. Preview There is a T20 to be played between Australia and India but it doesn’t seem important in the wake of Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement announcement. Harsha Bhogle, Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Gavaskar are standing on the field in Rajkot but are not talking about the match. They are telling Tendulkar stories. Still, a game will be played and the stadium is packed. Ganguly reckons the outfield will be lightening fast, no matter how much rain the ground has received. Home town boy Ravindra Jadeja will be a crowd favourite and there is Yuvraj Singh’s much anticipated return. [caption id=“attachment_1164793” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Yuvraj Singh will be closely watched in Rajkot. Reuters[/caption] After a two-month break from international cricket, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will look to re-start his stint at the helm with a win. He had warmed up nicely with a good outing for Chennai Super Kings in the CLT20. However, the focus will be primarily on Yuvraj, who would be eager to prove a point after being recalled to the squad following a string of good scores for India A against the Windies A and a solid display for India Blue in the Challenger Series. The 31-year-old had also scored a quick-fire 52 off 35 balls against the West Indies A in a T20 game in Bangalore. Apart from his explosive batting, Yuvraj’s left-arm spin will also be handy in the shortest form of the game. With inputs from PTI