Surya, Arshdeep shine as Indians beat W Australia XI in T20 warm-up

Based in Perth in the first phase of acclimatisation to bouncier pitch conditions in Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup, they rode on Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century for an easy win

Suryakumar Yadav maintained his fine form as an Indian team beat Western Australia XI by 13 runs in a warm-up T20 tie in Perth on Monday. Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat and two of the regular top three—KL Rahul and Virat Kohli—didn't bat.

Suryakumar Yadav

Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant opened the innings with Sharma, but India failed to really get going in the powerplay. The skipper was the first to fall, left-ram pacer Jason Behrendorff having him caught behind in the third over.

Deepak Hooda, who didn't play the T20I series against Australia and South Africa at home, the second series due to a back issue, came in at No 3, scoring a 14-ball 22. Surya, who came in at the fall of Hooda with India reduced to 28/2 in the fifth over, stitched handy partnerships with Pant and Hardik Pandya, who scored a 20-ball 27.

However, it was Surya's 35-ball 52 that propelled India to a 150-plus total. The 32-year-old smashed three fours and sixes each, emerging the top-scorer. It was Surya's fourth fifty-plus score in his last five T20 innings—his 69 against Australia in the series decider was followed by two half-centuries versus South Africa.

He finally fell to pacer Jhye Richardson in the 18th over, leaving India at 129/5. But the next 16 balls yielded 29 runs thanks to crucial contributions from Axar Patel and Harshal Patel.

Behrendorff and right-arm pacer Matthew Kelly took two wickets each while Richardson and Andrew Tye had one dismissal each.

Western Australia in reply lost D'Arcy Short in the first over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar removing him after being hit for two boundaries. The hosts' top three were out in two overs and they had lost half the side at the halfway stage of their innings.

Sam Fanning's 53-ball 59 was the only consolation for the hosts, who stuttered to 145/8 in their 20 overs. Arshdeep Singh, who missed the final T20I against South Africa due to a back issue, snared two top-order wickets before coming back to dismiss top-scorer Fanning. Kumar and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked two wickets each while Harshal Patel was expensive again, his lone wicket—No 9 Andrew Tye—costing 49 runs in four overs.

Sharma also tried out Hooda's occasional off-spin, but the 27-year-old didn’t take a wicket. India will play the same opponents on Thursday before going to Brisbane for two official T20 World Cup warm-up matches, against Australia and New Zealand. They open their campaign against Pakistan on Oct 23.

Brief scores: Indians 158/6 (S Yadav 52; J Benrendorff 2/26); Western Australia XI 145/8 (S Fanning 59; A Singh 3/6). Indians won by 13 runs.