Josh Inglis swashbuckling hundred went in vain as India beat Australia by two wickets in the first T20I at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
After being asked to bat first, openers Matthew Short and Steve Smith got Australia off to a steady start. The pair added 31 runs for the opening stand before the former was cleaned up by Ravi Bishnoi for 13.
Smith got a reprieve in the very same over when leg spinner Bishnoi dropped a catch off his own bowling. The former Australia skipper capitalized on the opportunity and added 130 runs for the second wicket stand alongside Inglis.
The Australian wicket keeper reached his half century by lofting Bishnoi for a maximum over long on and followed it up with another four and six in the over.
The stand finally ended when Smith was run out for 52. Inglis brought up his maiden hundred off just 47 balls by slicing a low toss from Arshdeep past the wicket keeper for a boundary.
The 28-year-old Inglis scored a swashbuckling 50 ball-110, before holing out to Yashasvi Jaiswal at deep square leg off Prasidh Krishna. Tim David (19*) provided finishing touches in the end to take Aussies to an impressive total of 208/3 in their 20 overs.
In response, India got off to a disaster start as Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) was run out without facing a ball. Yashasvi Jaiswal score a breezy 8 ball-21 before chipping a simple catch to Smith at mid off.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav along with Ishan Kishan featured in a 112 run stand for the third wicket before the latter was caught at deep extra cover by Short off Sangha for 58.
The 33 year old Yadav scored a fantastic 80, before falling to a brilliant running catch by Aaron Hardie. The Men in Blue lost three more wickets in quick succession, but left handed Rinku Singh (22*) held his nerve and took the hosts to a 2 wicket win.
The second T20 international will be played at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.