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India is currently facing Australia in the first game of the three-match T20I series at Mohali. The Aaron Finch-led side invited the hosts to bat first on a belter of a surface. Although Rohit Sharma started off on a strong note with a four and a six, he perished for 11 off 9 balls.
Soon, the in-form Virat Kohli (2) was holed out at the mid-on area, which put India in a spot of bother at 35/2 in the fifth over. However, the duo of KL Rahul (55) and Suryakumar Yadav (46) were clinical to put the team back on track with their quickfire 68-run stand.
Then arrived Hardik Pandya, who looked confident as ever with his presence at the crease, which was quite evident with his superb six over the deep mid-wicket area against Pat Cummins. On the other end, Axar Patel and Dinesh Karthik could not provide a notable contribution to the team in the slog overs.
Nevertheless, Pandya was sensational to finish off the innings with three consecutive sixes in the last three balls of the innings. The 28-year-old slammed his highest T20I score of 71* off 30 balls and propelled the Men in Blue to a mammoth score of 208 on the board. After the end of India's innings, Hardik was treated with a standing ovation from the crowd and his teammates.
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Pandya's efforts went in vain as Australia managed to beat India by 4 wickets riding on superb innings from Cameron Green (61 off 30) and Matthew Wade (45* off 21). Axar Patel was the pick of the wicket for India with figures of 3 for 17 but that wasn't enough on the day to secure a win.
