RAJKOT — Yuvraj Singh's blistering knock of 77 not out from 35 balls powered India to a six-wicket win over Australia in the one-off Twenty20 International here Thursday. Incidentally, this is Yuvraj's career-best T20I score. With 202 to chase on a flat deck was a perfect challenge for the strong Indian batting lineup. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma began sedately. Rohit even sweetly timed a six over backward square-leg. And then was caught behind on the next ball. Dhawan and Raina then rained boundaries. But soon Raina skied a simple catch to Shane Watson at mid-wicket off Nathan Coulter-Nile. Dhawan went for an expansive shot and was stumped off Doherty for 32 from 19 balls. Virat Kohli, played a little cameo before he made his exit for a 22-ball 29. Now comeback man Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were left with a task of chasing over 12 an over. Yuvraj got into his groove soon. His well-timed shots in the 14th over reassured that he is surely a rejuvenated batsman. He continued his fluent touch to complete his half-century in 25 balls. With the left-hander in full flow, Dhoni played the second fiddle giving most of the strike to Yuvraj who steered the team to victory. The high-scoring chase was set-up by a power-packed performance from Australia led by a 52-ball 89 by Aaron Finch. Vinay Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for India conceding 25 runs and picking three wickets. Brief scores: Australia 201 for 7 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 89, Nic Maddinson 34; Vinay Kumar 3 for 25, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3 for 35) lost to India 202 for 4 in 19.4 overs (Yuvraj Singh 77*, Shikhar Dhawan 32; Clint McKay 4 for 50) by 6 wickets. — Agencies
