WATCH: Rinku Singh Finishes it Off With Six But a No-ball Seals Win For India in 1st T20I – News18

Flamboyant batter Rinku Singh once again displayed his match-finishing credentials as he held his nerves in a tricky situation to take India over the line against Australia in the first T20I at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. Things got a bit tricky for India in the last two overs of the mammoth 209-run chase. Axar Patel played three dot balls in the penultimate over but Rinku held his nerves and smashed a boundary on the fifth ball to make things easy for the hosts.

However, it got a bit more tricky in the final over as Axar, Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh got out in the span of three back-to-back deliveries. Axar was caught and bowled by Sean Abbott, while the other two got run out in the attempt to steal runs.

The scores were tied on the final ball and Rinku smashed a six which made the fans jump off their seats. However, it turned out to be a no-ball as the six was not counted in India’s score. The no-ball was enough for India to seal the win and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.

This was India’s highest successful chase in T20 Internationals.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar got his mojo back with the change of format and he made a mockery of a 209-run chase with 80 off just 42 balls but Rinku’s 22 not off 14 balls saved India from the blushes.

India needed 14 off 12 balls after Surya departed but Axar Patel bungled big time and the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh also were run-out in a jiffy.

However, Rinku displayed his match-finishing prowess once again.

Ishan Kishan also brushed aside initial rustiness to smack five sixes in his 39-ball-58 and was an ideal companion for his skipper in a run-chase which became easy due to a flat batting track, short boundaries although there wasn’t a lot of dew during the second innings.

What the 112-run stand in 10 overs between Surya and Kishan did for India was keep them at par with Australia and in the hunt for a win.