Team India Seal Thumping Win Over Western Australia; Kohli, Dhawan Shines

08 January,Perth

Team India started off their Australian tour on a winning note as the visitors defeated Western Australia XI (WA XI) by 74 runs in a Twenty20 warm-up game here Friday.

Before restricting the home team to 118/6 in the allotted 20 overs, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan led Team India to 192/4 in 20 overs, hitting 74 runs each.

Ravindra Jadeja (2/13), Axar Patel (2/13) and Barinder Sran (2/24) proved too good for the host as India prevented any solid partnership to blossom.

Travis Birt, who has played Twenty20s for Australia, was the lone ranger for Western Australia, scoring 74.

Earlier, half-centuries from Kohli and Dhawan led India to post an impressive total of 192-4.

However, India lost wickets in a flurry towards the end of their innings. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was unbeaten on 14-ball 22. Opener Rohit Sharma was run out for 6 before Kohli and Dhawan stitched a 100-plus stand to recover from the early jolt. Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 2 runs, was caught after a leading edge.

Dhawan’s 74 contained eight fours and three sixes while Kohli’s 74 was studded with seven boundaries and three sixes.

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team will play a 50-over match against the same opposition tomorrow.