India started their limited-overs tour of Australia on a positive note, comprehensively beating a second-string Western Australia XI by 74 runs in a Twenty20 warm-up game here today with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan striking fluent half-centuries.
Batting first, India scored a healthy 192 for four in 20 overs with Dhawan and Kohli contributing 74 runs each.
The duo
added 149 runs for the second wicket after Rohit Sharma (6) missed out on a run feast on a bouncy WACA wicket.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 4, also hit a quickfire 22 off 14 balls.
In reply, Western Australia XI could only manage 118/6 as rookie left-arm speedster Barinder Sran bowled impressively to notch up figures of 2/24 from 4 overs.
More importantly, Sran hit the right length, hurried the batsmen with short balls and also showed his skills of being able to swing the white kookaburra at a lively pace.
He got opener Darcy Short (5) with a delivery that kicked up as the batsmen was hurried into playing a shot and an easy
catch was taken at mid-wicket.
Sran also got rival skipper Will Bosisto (1) with a delivery that was just short of three-quarter but Bosisto, trying to hit over long,-on provided an easy skier for Ravichandran Ashwin.
Western Australia were never in the match save for former Australia opener Travis Birt, who scored an unbeaten 74 off 60 balls.
Among other bowlers, left-arm spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja had identical figures of 2/13 from three overs. In all, Dhoni used six bowlers resting Ishant Sharma for tomorrow's warm-up one day match.
Earlier, Test captain Kohli came back from a well-deserved break and warmed up nicely with a 44-ball 74 that had seven boundaries and three sixes.
Dhawan, whose form has been patchy of late, also looked in good touch as he played 46 balls hitting eight boundaries and an equal number of sixes.
The Delhi duo was helped by the fact that the ball came onto the bat nicely and they were able to play their strokes in free-flowing manner.
Dhawan hooked fast bowler Matthew Kelly for a couple of sixes and also punished leg-spinner James Muirhead with a slog-swept six over deep mid-wicket.
Kohli, on his part, looked more solid as he hit medium pacer David Moody for two sixes including one that was pulled in front of square.
He also flicked Kelly for his third six.
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With the matches being held in conditions favouring the slow bowlers more than the pace men, India are expected to go in with their regulars Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, along with the vastly experienced Harbhajan Singh who did not make the playing 11 in the three games Down Under. Also left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, the highest Indian buy in the IPL auction, is also in the squad and he would be itching to make the playing XI.
On the other hand, the visitors, who are being led by batsman Dinesh Chandimal, will be without their regular T20 captain Lasith Malinga and Test skipper Angelo Mathews for the entire series as they are nursing a knee injury and a groin strain respectively. Experienced all-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan has also been ruled out of the opening game due to a hand injury.
Also absent from the visitors' line-up are seasoned bowlers -- pacer Nuwan Kulasekara and spinner Rangana Herath -- to make the attack appear a bit thin on paper.
To fill up for the lack of experience in the squad, the Lanka selectors have recalled veteran Dilhara Fernando at the age of 36 after putting the tall and well-build pacer in cold storage in 2012.
Fernando was selected in the squad on the basis of his recent form in a domestic T20 competition where he picked up 11 wickets in four games. His inclusion is a gamble that the Lankans will be hoping pay off on this short tour which concludes at Vishakapatnam on February 14.
Dilshan, who is expected to be available from the second game in Ranchi on February 12, has been covered by the inclusion of newcomer Niroshan Dickwella, who was adjudged the best batsman of the Super T20 provincial tournament which concluded recently in the Emerald Isle.
Apart from Dickwella, pacer Dushmantha Chameera and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who played on the recent New Zealand tour, are newcomers to India along with left-arm seamer Binura Fernando.
A weak top-order is severely ailing the West Indies after
they looked to make progress with both their lower-order partnerships and bowling in the second Test.
Given the still-existing gulf in quality and experience between the two sides, snatching that fighting draw at Sabina Park was a huge morale booster for them.
The question is, if they can maintain this momentum, replicate that form, and once again prevent India from taking an unassailable 2-0 lead?
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd.Shami, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.
West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Kraigg Brathwaite, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Leon Johnson, Shane Dowrich (wk), Devendra Bishoo, Carlos Brathwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Miguel Cummins, Alzarri Joseph.
Match starts at: 7.30 pm IST.
