Rock hits Australia's team bus after T20 win over India
A rock has shattered a window on the Australian cricket team’s bus after their T20 victory over India in Guwahati. No one was injured in the incident which happened as the team was returning to their hotel from the Barsapara Stadium on Wednesday morning AEST.
The rock left a large hole in a window towards the back of the bus. The seat next to the window was unoccupied at the time. Australia opener Aaron Finch tweeted a picture of the broken window. “Pretty scary having a rock thrown through the team bus window on the way back to the hotel!!” Finch said.
Australia levelled the T20 series after a fast bowling masterclass from international rookie Jason Behrendorff set up victory. Behrendorff’s 4-21 off four overs was the catalyst for India’s total of 118, which was easily hunted down by Australia with 27 balls to spare.
Moises Henriques batted beautifully for his 62 off 46, as he combined with Travis Head (48 off 34) to take the game away from India in Guwahati.
Behrendorff swung the ball at pace as he ran through India’s top order. After getting smashed for two boundaries by Rohit Sharma in the first three balls of the match, the West Australian paceman responded by trapping him lbw with his next delivery.
Virat Kohli also fell in the first over, with Behrendorff taking the catch off his own bowling to claim the Indian skipper’s wicket.
Behrendorff had three scalps in eight balls when Manish Pandey (six) nicked one to wicketkeeper Tim Paine, while a stunning outfield catch from stand-in captain David Warner made Shikhar Dhawan (two) his fourth victim.
The chase was on shaky ground with Australia 13-2 after openers David Warner and Aaron Finch departed early. But Henriques, who was promoted to No.3, and Head put the tourists in control. Henriques smashed four fours and four sixes, while Head found the boundary six times, clearing the rope once.
After a tough tour, leg-spinner Adam Zampa found some form, grabbing two vital wickets to keep the pressure on India. He had IPL team-mate MS Dhoni (13) stumped after a superb piece of work from Tim Paine
Kedar Jadhav (27 off 27) was on his way to rescuing the innings until he was bamboozled by Zampa’s wrong’un which crashed into his stumps.
The match was the first international to be played in the northeastern city of Guwahati for eight years. The smashed window a month after a similar incident in Bangladesh where a rock broke a window, prompting security to be beefed up. Authorities believed local children were behind the Bangladesh rockthrowing.
Australia’s victory makes Friday’s match in Hyderabad the series’ decider, with the tourists desperate to salvage a win after losing the ODIs 4-1.