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While Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 44 off 23 balls to propel India to 161 for 7, his head injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise with India unleashing Chahal (3/25 in 4 overs) on an Australian
 "IND vs AUS 1st T20 highlights: Chahal, Natarajan helps India win by 11 runs")
Yuzvendra Chahal turned out to be the perfect concussion substitute after an injured Ravindra Jadeja did his part with the bat as the duo played their roles to perfection in India's impressive 11-run victory over Australia in the first T20 International of three-match series at Manuka Oval, Canberra, on Friday.
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While Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 44 off 23 balls to propel India to 161 for 7, his head injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise with India unleashing Chahal (3/25 in 4 overs) on an Australian side caught completely off-guard. The hosts could manage only 150 for 7 in 20 overs.
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Credit was also due to the lion-hearted effort from debutant Thangarasu Natarajan (3/30) and off-spinner Washington Sundar (0/16 in 4 overs), who bowled well in Powerplay.
ICC match referee David Boon allowed the visitors a "like for like" replacement, as mandated by the rules, for Jadeja in Chahal even though home team coach Justin Langer looked visibly angry.
And to make matters worse, Chahal dimissed two form men -- Aaron Finch (35) and Steve Smith (12) -- in his first two overs to turn the game on its head.
The Australians were not prepared for Chahal, who bowled way better in his most preferred format, varying the pace of his deliveries and using the flight to good effect.
Natarajan, whose nerves had eased after a decent ODI debut, was right on the money and got one to straighten catching Glenn Maxwell plumb in-front.
If that wasn't enough, Natarajan snuffed out a frustrated D'arcy Short (34 off 38 balls) to make it 113 for 4 and India didn't have to look back from then on.
IND vs AUS 1st T20 full scorecard: Australian innings| Batsman | Dismissals | Runs | Balls | Fours | Sixes |
| D' Arcy Short | c Hardik b Natarajan | 34 | 38 | 3 | 0 |
| Aaron Finch | c Pandya b Chahal | 35 | 26 | 5 | 1 |
| Steve Smith | c Samson b Chahal | 12 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Glenn Maxwell | lbw b Natarajan | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Moses Henriques | lbw b Chahar | 27 | 17 | 1 | 1 |
| Mathew Wade | c Kohli b Chahal | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Sean Abbott | not out | 12 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Mitchell Starc | b Natarajan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mitchell Swepson | not out | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: 150-7 in 20 Overs | |||||
| Bowlers | Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | |
| Deepak Chahar | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | |
| Washington Sundar | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |
| Mohammed Shami | 4 | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| T Natarajan | 4 | 0 | 30 | 3 | |
| Yuzvendra Chahal (sub) | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3 | |
India vs Australia 1st T20 full scorecard: Indian innings
| Batsman | Dismissals | Runs | Balls | Fours | Sixes |
| KL Rahul | c Abbott b Henriques | 51 | 40 | 5 | 1 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | b Starc | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli | c & b Swepson | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Sanju Samson | c Swepson b Henriques | 23 | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| Manish Pandey | c Hazlewood b Zampa | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Hardik Pandya | c Smith b Henriques | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | not out | 44 | 23 | 5 | 1 |
| Washington Sundar | c Abbott b Starc | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Deepak Chahar | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: 161-7 in 20 Overs | |||||
| Bowler | Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | |
| Mitchell Starc | 4 | 0 | 34 | 2 | |
| Josh Hazlewood | 4 | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| Adam Zampa | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
| Sean Abbott | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Mitchell Swepson | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
| Moses Henriques | 4 | 0 | 22 | 3 | |
India vs Australia 1st T20I playing 11
First Published: Dec 04 2020 | 11:11 AM IST
