Warner lauds Behrendorff after win
AUSTRALIA skipper David Warner hailed Jason Behrendorff (pix) after the left-arm quick powered Australia to an eight-wicket series-levelling win over India in the second Twenty20 international in Guwahati, Assam yesterday.
Behrendorff, playing his second match after making his debut in Ranchi last week, claimed four wickets to bowl out India for 118 before the visitors chased down the total with 27 balls to spare.
Moises Henriques, who hit 62 after being promoted to No. 3, and Travis Head, who made 48, put together an unbeaten 109-run partnership to keep the three-match series alive.
“Credit to our bowlers, they took early wickets. And obviously Dorff bowling there and taking four for in his first real spell for us was fantastic,” Warner said.
“He has got the height, the bounce, he comes from Perth, got a bit of swing and he has got right attitude which is key,” Warner added.
Australia lost a couple of early wickets including Warner for two, but the 119-run target proved too little for the Indian bowlers to put pressure on the new batsmen.
The right-left batting combination of Henriques and Head played sensible cricket to deny the hosts any further chance of creating trouble.
Henriques hit four fours and four sixes during his 46-ball knock while Head also attacked the Indian wrist spinners with some good footwork.
“Sending Henriques early was something I spoke about. He’s been effective with Sunrisers (Hyderabad) as well, and he came and showed his experience,” Warner said of his Indian Premier League teammate.
“In the beginning, the pitch was softish, quite like an English wicket. But if you got through the new ball, you could score,” he said of the Barsapara Satdium that hosted its first international game.
In a related incident, Aussie batsman Aaron Finch tweeted yesterday that a window on the Australian cricket team’s bus was shattered as they returned to their hotel after yesterday’s match.
Cricket Australia’s news site cricket. com.au said no-one was hurt and nobody was sitting in the seat next to the window when it was broken by the rock “believed to be roughly the size of a cricket ball”. – AFP/Reuters