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Gambhir drives India past Aussies in T20 affair

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When it comes to Twenty20, the Indians are champs and that’s what was proved at the Brabourne Stadium which was the host of the first ever such match on Indian soil. Dhoni’s team easily went past a target of 167 set by the Aussies with 7 wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare.

Australia won the toss and decided to bat first but were restricted to a moderate total of 166 for 5. Spin did the trick for the Indians with Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik keeping the Australian batsmen under a check. The only batsmen making merry among the Australians was Skipper Ricky Ponting who made 76 in 53 with 13 fours. Michael Clarke finished with an unbeaten 25 from 15 but couldn’t get the total that was so necessary in this format of the game. Harbhajan Singh was the pick among the bowlers giving away just 17 in his 4 overs besides taking the wicket of Hayden. Pathan with 2 for 34 in 4 and Kartik with none for 27 in 4 complemented the off spinner well after an expensive start from the new ball pair of RP Singh and Sreesanth. India would however thank RP Singh for providing the wicket of Gilchrist in the very first over of the match.

The Indians eased through in their chase with Robin Uthappa combining with Gautam Gambhir to put on a match-winning stand of 80 runs for the second wicket that literally sealed the game. Both these batsmen joined together after an early exit of Virender Sehwag. Uthappa couldn’t quite stay the distance but he had done his job with a breezy 35 from 26 with 6 fours before trying to play a delicate dab off Michael Clarke which was caught behind. Gambhir (63 in 52 with 6 fours and a six) too couldn’t stay right till the end but his departure gave the crowd an opportunity to watch MS Dhoni smash a six off Brett Lee to finish the match in style. The crowd also had the honour of watching the Prince of Twenty20 Cricket – Yuvraj Singh, who treated them with three sixes in his innings of 31 from 25. Gambhir was the Man of the Match for his smooth innings which had a life early on when he was caught off a noball.