Chandigarh, Mar 27: India seal a semifinal berth in the World Twenty20 after defeating Australia by six wickets in a do-or-die Group 2 match at I S Bindra stadium, here today.
Earlier, India made a remarkable recovery after their bowlers leaked runs in the initial overs as they restricted Australia to 160 for 6 in a virtual knock-out match.
Australia were cruising at 53 for no loss at the end of the fourth over with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin conceding 17 and 22 in the second and fourth overs respectively but the home bowlers bounced back in the later overs to restrict the Aussies to a competitive total.
For Australia, Aaron Finch (43) and Glenn Maxwell (31) were the main contributors as Australia lost the momentum in the later overs at the I S Bindra Stadium.
Finch made 43 off 34 balls at the top while Maxwell scored 31 of 28.
Hardik Pandya grabbed two wickets for 36 runs while Ashish Nehra took one wicket for 20 runs in his four overs.
With a semifinal berth at stake for both teams, the atmosphere at the stadium was electric as fans flocked to stadium hours before match time.
The in-form Usman Khawaja set the tone for the Australia innings by pulling Nehra for four on the very first ball of the match. The seasoned Indian came back well, beating Khawaja twice in the same over.
Khawaja, however, could not be contained for long as he hammered an erring Jasprit Bumrah for four boundaries in his opening over. The Australians had their aggressive intent clear, so much so that even first change Ashwin was not spared.
Finch deposited the star Indian spinner for two consecutive sixes over long on and under pressure, his next ball was wide down the leg side for five runs. Ashwin's 22-run over meant Australia had raced to 53 for no loss in four overs.
India badly needed a breakthrough to stop the free flow of runs and it was provided by Nehra, who had the dangerous Khawaja caught behind off a fuller ball.
Ashwin, brought back in the eighth over, bounced back from a forgettable first over by having David Warner stumped to make it 73 for two. That wicket was Ashwin's 50th in the format, making him the first Indian to do so.
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