Australia has started its tour of India in perfect fashion after sealing nailbiting win in a low-scoring thriller in Visakhapatnam. Glenn Maxwell hit a crucial half-century as Australia edged out India by three wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish at the first Twenty20 international on Sunday. Pat Cummins hit a four and took two runs off the last two balls to complete a nervous 127-run chase after his fellow paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile restricted India to 126-7 in Visakhapatnam. Maxwell, who made 56, put together 84 runs with D’Arcy Short for the third wicket to put Australia on course before Jasprit Bumrah hit back with three wickets. MATCH CENTRE: Scoreboard, video highlights Every Test, ODI & T20I live, ad-break free during play and in 4K. Get it all on Foxtel Bumrah got debutant Peter Handscomb caught behind for 13 and then bowled Coulter-Nile on the final ball of the 19th over to keep the game in balance. Jhye Richardson and Cummins -- both not out on seven each -- then kept their cool in the final six balls against Umesh Yadav to steer the Aussies home. But the day belonged to Coulter-Nile who returned figures of 3-26 in his four overs, receiving the man of the match award. READ MORE ULTIMATE GUIDE: Kohli’s staggering record Australia must overcome WORLD CUP AT STAKE: Players who need to step up in India 20 YEARS OF MISERY: Australia on verge of extending brutal strea Indian batsman K.L. Rahul, who returned to the side after a suspension for sexist comments during a controversial TV chat show appearance with Hardik Pandya, hit 50 off 36 balls. His 55-run second wicket stand with skipper Virat Kohli, who made 24, gave India a brisk start but the hosts lost momentum after losing three quick wickets. Adam Zampa got Kohli’s prized scalp with his leg spin and Coulter-Nile claimed the wicket of Rahul to check India on a tricky pitch. Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni made an unbeaten 29. The second match is in Bangalore on Wednesday.<doc-sep>Australia coach Justin Langer must shelve his “they are all good blokes” tag and give Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, D’D’Arcy Short, Ashton Turner, Peter Handscomb and Nathan Coulter-Nile a right royal gobful for almost blowing the first T20 against India at Visakhapatnam overnight. It took sensible batting from Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson to score 14 off the last over to record a three-wicket victory off the last ball of the game. When Umesh Yadav started the final over neither Cummins nor Richardson had faced a ball, so the 14 was a huge ask. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share But they both finished with seven runs off three to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat. They shouldn’t have had to bat when Australia needed 38 off 40 deliveries with eight wickets in hand and the Maxwell-Short stand in full swing. But Australia lost 5-24 through sheer stupidity. Maxwell, who had batted superbly, went one big shot too many to be caught at deep mid off for 56 – Australia 3-89. Short has wonderful batting talents, but no cricket nous. Like ball sense, you are born with it, or never own it. Advertisement Advertisement Short was involved in two run outs – Marcus Stoinis in the first over, and himself, both from being a ball-watcher and not responding to the call – Australia 4-101. Turner played a nothing shot trying to paddle the ball around the corner and departed bowled for an inglorious duck that will haunt him for a long time – Australia 5-102. Handscomb received a very cuttable delivery, his favourite shot, but he decided to hook which wasn’t on to pay the ultimate penalty – Australia 6-113. The very next ball Nathan Coulter-Nile played forward to make a yorker from Jasprit Bumrah, and lost his castle – Australia 7-113. So chasing just 127 for victory suddenly became mountainous until Cummins and Richardson successfully brought sanity, and 14 runs, to the table. Advertisement Advertisement I’ve left Finch until last because he had a captain’s game he will want to forget in a hurry. Did he not fathom Pat Cummins was on the field? Not only has Cummins been the best-performed Australia quick over the last 12 months, but the Allan Border Medal recipient as the best cricketer in the country. And with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood out of action injured, who was the obvious choice to bowl the first delivery? Pat Cummins. Not on your life. It was Jason Behrendorff and Jhye Richardson to open, followed by Nathan Coulter-Nile and leggie Adam Zampa. Cummins was the fifth bowler called, but didn’t bowl until the eighth over when India was galloping at 1-59. Advertisement Advertisement Behrendorff had 1-16 off three, Richardson 0-22 off two, Coulter-Nile 0-11 off one and Zampa 0-10 off one. Even then Finch took Cummins off with 0-6 off after one over, brought him back in the 11th with 0-11, then the 17th at 1-16 and the 19th to finish with 1-19 off four. Sports opinion delivered daily That was an insult to the best cricketer in the country, which he proved with the bat under extreme pressure to win the game. Advertisement Advertisement What did the captain offer with his bat? Out first ball, trapped in front. Again.<doc-sep>Improved running between the wickets will be high on coach Justin Langer's wishlist in Bangalore, where Australia are hunting their first limited-overs series victory since the Cape Town cheating scandal. Langer's team started the tour of India, a key tune-up for this year's one-day World Cup, with a final-ball Twenty20 victory in Vizag. Critical: Marcus Stoinis is being regularly singled out as a key for Australia. Credit:AAP The second T20 begins at 12.30am AEDT on Thursday. Victory at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium would deliver Australia their maiden T20 series win over India - and some momentum leading into the five-match ODI series that starts in Hyderabad on Saturday.<doc-sep>Find out everything you need to know about Australia’s T20I series against India in our ultimate guide! A familiar foe awaits Australia as it begins its road to the Cricket World Cup with a two-match Twenty20 International series against India, starting Monday (12.30am AEDT). The white-ball series is the first of three Australia will play away from home to find some form and finetune selections for the showpiece event which begins in late May. The first two will be played against India, meaning a hasty reunion for Australia just a month after a long summer of hostilities ended. Virat Kohli will once again lead India - first in two T20Is and then five ODIs that immediately follow. Taking on the Indian skipper in any format is a daunting challenge for Australia’s bowlers, but it is especially the case in the game’s shortest version. Every Test, ODI & T20I live, ad-break free during play and in 4K. Get it all on Foxtel Kohli averages a massive 61.00 after 13 T20I innings against Australia. Source: AAP Kohli averages a massive 61.00 after 13 T20I innings against Australia. He’s made five half-centuries in those matches, four of which saw him finish unbeaten. The 30-year-old has scored the fourth-most runs ever in T20Is, however, his average far exceeds the top three. Kohli has made his 2,167 T20I runs at 49.25, which betters Rohit Sharma’s 2,326 at 32.76, Martin Guptill’s 2,272 at 33.91, and Shoaib Malik’s 2,263 at 30.58. In fact, Kohli has the highest T20I average of the world’s top 39 run scorers. His last two matches against Australia in November were a mixed bag - 61 not out in Sydney and 4 in Brisbane. BBL CRICKET PODCAST - A FULL FINALS RECAP HERE: OR HERE The three-match series finished 1-1 after the second match in Melbourne was abandoned due to rain with India in a strong position. Now India will have two matches to settle the score and gain some momentum before five ODIs. Find out everything you need to know about the series in our ultimate guide! READ MORE HAZLEWOOD: Where Smith, Warner ban hit Australia hardest GAYLE’S COCKY PLEDGE: ‘If I don’t start it, it won’t be a tournament’ BBL SHAKE-UP: Bid to lure biggest names ‘under consideration’ 280 BALLS REMAINING: Minnows blown away in monster loss HOW TO WATCH Watch the entire series LIVE on Fox Cricket 501! Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now FIXTURES Game 1: India vs Australia Monday February 25 at ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam 12.30am (AEDT) Game 2: India vs Australia Thursday February 28 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru 12.30am (AEDT) SQUADS India Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande Australia Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (vc, wk), Pat Cummins (vc), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, D’Arcy Short ODDS (courtesy of bet365) India $2.37, Australia $5.50, draw: $2.20 FORM (most recent first) India Lost v New Zealand by four runs Won v New Zealand by seven wickets Lost v New Zealand by 80 runs Won v Australia by six wickets Lost v Australia by four runs Won v West Indies by six wickets Won v West Indies by 71 runs Won by West Indies by five wickets Won v England by seven wickets Lost v England by five wickets Australia Lost v India by six wickets Won v India by four runs Lost v South Africa by 21 runs Lost v Pakistan by 33 runs Lost v Pakistan by 11 runs Lost v Pakistan by 66 runs Won v UAE by seven wickets Lost v Pakistan by six wickets Won v Zimbabwe by five wickets Lost v Pakistan by 45 runs HEAD-TO-HEAD India 11-6 Australia, no result 1<doc-sep>
Pat Cummins has proved his worth with the bat to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a Twenty20 thriller against India, where the golden boy of Australian cricket enhanced his reputation yet again. Cummins - having memorably started his Test career at 18 by hitting the winning runs against South Africa in Johannesburg - showed great composure with the willow to ensure Australia started their tour of India with a dramatic three- wicket final-ball win. The visitors restricted India to 7-126 in Vizag -inflicting a collapse of 6-40 that robbed Virat Kohli’s juggernaut of all momentum - but needed all 20 overs to haul in the modest target. A collapse of 4-12 meant the victory equation confronting Cummins and Jhye Richardson was 14 runs off the final over. Cummins smacked the penultimate delivery of the match, a full toss from Umesh Yadav, for four and then drove the final ball past the bowler and completed a hard-run two. Glenn Maxwell, whose quick-fire 56 left Australia wanting 38 runs from the final 40 balls, was in awe. “He can do anything. He does it quite regularly,” Maxwell said of Cummins, who also recorded economical figures of 1-19. “We got ourselves into trouble and by the last over we probably should have lost, and (would have) if it wasn’t for Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson pulling something out of the hat... “To have a result like this in our first game on tour is great for our confidence.” Camera Icon Australia's Jhye Richardson, left and Pat Cummins celebrate. Credit: AP Teammates have given Cummins new nicknames of ’No.1’ and ’AB’ after he recently claimed top spot in the International Cricket Council’s Test bowling charts and pocketed the Allan Border medal. The paceman, who worked tirelessly to develop his batting during the injury- cursed run that followed his Test debut, is in career-best form and oozing confidence. “I said (at the time) ’if anyone could go out there and face their first ball in the last over and get us 14 it’s probably Pat Cummins’,” Maxwell said. Nathan Coulter-Nile was named man of the match after he snagged three wickets in 11 deliveries, including top-scorer KL Rahul for 50. Captain Aaron Finch recorded a first-ball duck and has failed to reach 50 in his past 18 limited-overs innings for Australia. Maxwell strode to the crease at 2-5 after the dismissals of Finch and Marcus Stoinis, who was promoted to open alongside D’Arcy Short in a rejigged side that included Peter Handscomb’s shock selection as wicketkeeper. Maxwell seized control of the chase, storming to a half-century in 40 deliveries, but his dismissal was followed by a woeful mix-up between Handscomb and Short that led to the latter being run out for 37. Ashton Turner managed a five-ball duck as Jasprit Bumrah conceded just two runs in the second-last over, which ended with the dismissals of Handscomb and Coulter-Nile. “We knew Pat has the composure to bat well. He played well ... he’s a pretty confident cricketer,” Bumrah said.