Yuvraj Singh, in his comeback match, powered India to a brilliant six-wicket win over Australia in the lone Twenty20 International at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here Thursday.
The southpaw slammed an unbeaten 77 off 35 balls to help India chase down Australia's monumental total of 201/7 with two balls to spare.
Chasing 202, India lost opener Rohit Sharma (8) early in the second over. Shikhar Dhawan (32), Suresh Raina (19) and Virat Kohli (29) chipped in with valuable performances but India were reeling at 100/4 after the loss of Kohli in the 12th over.
But Yuvraj along with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (24 not out) struck a swashbuckling unbeaten 102-run stand in 51 balls for the fifth wicket to guide India home in the last over.
Yuvraj, later declared the man of the match, slammed eight boundaries and five sixes in an innings which had a strike rate of 220.
There was not much to talk about the Australian bowlers as only Clint McKay managed to scalp two but gave away 50 runs from his four overs.
More From This Section
Earlier, put in to bat, Australia got off to a good start with openers Aaron Finch (89) and Nic Maddinson (34) striking a 56-run partnership. It was a Finch show all the way from there as he slammed a remarkable 14 boundaries and a six in his 52-ball knock.
Glenn Maxwell (27) also slammed four sixes in his 13-ball knock to propel the visitors to a huge total.
Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Vinay Kumar bowled well to clinch three wickets each while spinner Ravindra Jadeja clinched one.