India vs Australia, 1st T20I Stats Review: Hardik Pandya’s highest score, Australia's record chase and other stats

Cameron Green and Matthew Wade overshadowed KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya’s efforts as Australia won the first of the three-match series by four wickets in Mohali eventually scripting their second-highest successful run-chase of 211/6 in T20 internationals. Green struck a whirlwind 61 off 30 while Wade smashed an unbeaten 45 off just 21 to seal the deal with four balls to spare. Half-centuries from Rahul and Hardik went in vain as the Aussies took a 1-0 lead in the series.

Speaking of how the opening fixture panned out, skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to field first. Star Indian batters captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell early for just 11 and two respectively. Rahul kept going as he stitched a 68-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav who himself looked in terrific touch. The former got dismissed for 55 off 35 while Suryakumar amassed 46 off 25 which included two fours and four maximums. It was all Hardik then who registered his career-best score of 71 not out which came in 30 deliveries with the help of seven fours and five sixes. The hosts reached a huge total of 208/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Nathan Ellis starred with the ball for the Kangaroos as he picked up 3/30 in his four-over spell.

Chasing 209, the visitors made a rollicking start as skipper Finch made a quickfire 22 off just 13 before falling to Axar Patel. Green went on his merry way to slam his maiden T20I half-century in just his second innings. Umesh Yadav struck a double blow for India when he picked up two wickets of Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell in the 12^th over. But Tim David made a 14-ball 18 and wicketkeeper-batter Wade, who went bang bang right from the start, helped the tourists in beating the Men in Blue in the series opener. For his destructive half-century right at the top of the order and one wicket, Cameron Green bagged the Player of the Match award. 

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the 1^st T20I between India and Australia:

172 – Rohit Sharma is now joint-top with Martin Guptill for hitting most sixes (172) in T20 internationals.

9.16 – Rohit has scored 55 runs in six innings at a poor average of just 9.16 with the best score of 12 against Australia in T20Is in India.

2018 - KL Rahul reached the milestone of 2000 runs in T20Is. He became the third Indian after Rohit Sharma (3631) and Virat Kohli (3586) to achieve the feat.

53 – Hardik Pandya reached the landmark of 50 maximums in the shortest international format.

1 – India lost their first match in four T20Is in Mohali.

2 – Australia scripted their second-highest successful run-chase of 211/6 in the format. Their highest of 245/5 came against New Zealand in Auckland in 2018.

48 – Hardik hammered the third-most runs (48) by an Indian in the last four overs of a T20I innings. Yuvraj Singh (58) against England in 2007 and Kohli (54) against Afghanistan this year are in the top two positions.

208/6 – India registered their highest total of 208/6 against Australia in T20Is. Their previous highest was 202/4 which came in Rajkot in the year 2013. Also, the Men in Blue posted a total of 200 or above for the first time against the Aussies batting first.

3/30 – Nathan Ellis recorded the third-best figures of 3/30 by an Australian against India in India. Jason Behrendorff’s spell of 4/21 in 2017 and Nathan Coulter-Nile’s performance of 3/26 in 2019 are in the top two spots.

2 – Australia also registered the second-highest successful run-chase of 211/6 by a team against India in T20 internationals. South Africa are on top for chasing 212/3 in Delhi this year.

37 – Suryakumar Yadav is now joint-third with Evin Lewis for smashing most sixes (37) among full-members in T20 internationals in a calendar year. Lewis hit as many sixes last year while Mohammad Rizwan (42) and Martin Guptill (41) also slammed it in the year 2021.

150 – Rahul appeared in his 150^th international match.

211/6 – The Aussies are joint-top with India for achieving the highest successful run-chase in Mohali. The Men in blue also chased down 211 while losing four wickets against Sri Lanka in the year 2009.