Rajkot: It was a perfect comeback for Yuvraj Singh, as the dashing left-hander batted brilliantly to score a quick-fire half century (77 off 35 balls) and led India to a six wicket win against Australia in the one off T20 international played at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here on Thursday.
Chasing a mammoth winning target of 202 runs, India lost Rohit Sharma early in the very second over at a score of 12. Therefater, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina added 38 runs for the second wicket before Raina was caught of Shane Watson off Coulter-Nile for 19.
Virat Kohli joined Dhawan and the Delhitees took India to 80 before Dhawan was stumped by Brad Haddin off Doherty in the ninth over. And Kohli too following Dhawan to the dug-out on the first ball of 12th over with India just below the half way mark, things looked tough for the host team.
However, Yuvraj had other plans as he unleashed himself against the Aussies and there was no looking back for the Indians. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the other end just enjoyed playing the second fiddle as the southpaw went berserk and sent the Aussies on leather hunt every now and then. Yuvraj wnet on to score 77 off just 35 balls, including eight fours and five huge sixes.
Dhoni too came up with a controlled little cameo of 24 runs off 21 balls and hit the winning shot with balls remaining.
Earlier, Aaron Finch made a fantastic 89 in 52 balls (14x4, 1x6) to steer Australia to a big total. Debutant Nic Maddinson 34 (16b, 6x4, 1x6) and Glenn Maxwell 27 (13b, 4x6) also played quick cameos.
Vinay Kumar was the most successful Indian bowler as he bowled beautifully (3/26) after conceding 10 runs in his first over. He was well supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/35) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/23).