India's star-studded batting line-up belied expectations as the team lost to Western Australia by 36 runs in its second T20 World Cup warm-up match in Perth on Thursday.
India fell to Western Australia by 36 runs in its second T20 World Cup warm-up game on Thursday, despite having a star-studded batting lineup. Inaugural edition champions India laboured to 132 for eight in 20 overs, chasing 169. India won the first warm-up game by a margin of 13 runs.
That's that from the practice match against Western Australia.
They win by 36 runs.
KL Rahul 74 (55) pic.twitter.com/5bunUUqZiH
Western Australia reached 168 for eight in the allotted 20 overs thanks to D'Arcy Short's 52 off 38 deliveries and Nick Hobson's 64 off 41 deliveries.
With three wickets in an over, R Ashwin was the best bowler for India. While under fire Harshal Patel returned with neat figures of 27 for two in four overs, and pacer Arshdeep Singh once more impressed in his three overs. India had trouble catching up to the runs on the fast WACA surface.
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India captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav did not come out to bat.
Both Rohit and Kohli fielded during West Australia's innings. Rishabh Pant (9) opened the batting alongside stand-in captain K L Rahul whose 74 off 45 balls went in vain. None of the other Indian batters could make an impact in the innings.
Batting at three, Deepak Hooda perished after making 6 off 9 balls. Hardik Pandya began with a couple of sixes before being dismissed for 17 off 9 balls.
The designated finisher in the Indian team, Dinesh Karthik struggled to a 14-ball 10. India are camped in Perth ahead of the T20 World Cup to get used to the pace and bounce.
The squad now moves to Brisbane for the warm-up games against Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19 respectively.
They open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 in Melbourne.
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Brief scores:
Western Australia 168/8 in 20 overs (D'arcy Short 52, Nick Hobson 64; R Ashwin 3/32, Harshal Patel 2/27).
India 132/8 in 20 overs ( K L Rahul 74; Lance Morris 2/23).
(With inputs from PTI)