New Delhi: The Indian cricket team found some comfort on Thursday night, after their devastating loss in the World Cup 2023 finals, by defeating the Australian cricket team by 2 wickets.
The men in blue now have a 1-0, lead against the Aussies in 5 match T20i series. The second match between the two sides will be played on Sunday at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
The Finisher Rinku Singh is here to rule for India. 💪🫡pic.twitter.com/p3TtZOm7iC
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 23, 2023
This was also India’s highest-ever successful run chase in T20Is, surpassing their previous best against West Indies in 2019. First-time captain Surya Kumar Yadav was named man of the match for his match-winning 80 runs knock from 42 deliveries.
Proud Moment, 🇮🇳 Win#SuryaKumarYadav pic.twitter.com/x0jwZKzxpY
— Surya Kumar Yadav (@Beuniqueboi) November 24, 2023
Today let’s take a look at the top 3 highest run chases, successfully completed by team India.
3] 207 vs Sri Lanka (Mohali, 2009)
During Sri Lanka’s tour of India in 2009, both the teams were slated to play a 2-match T20i series against each other.
Sri Lanka won the first match by 29 runs, thanks to Kumar Sangakkara’s brilliant 78 runs innings, giving the men in blue and challenging task to win the second match of the series to draw the series.
Following the footsteps of the first match, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to bat first.
The skipper scored his second consecutive half-century to take his team to a mammoth total of 206 for 7 in 20 overs.
In reply with the collective efforts from Virender Sehwag (64), Yuvraj Singh (60*) and the skipper MS Dhoni (46), India chased down the target with 6 wickets and 5 balls to spare.
2] 208 vs West Indies (Hyderabad, 2019)
In 2019, West Indies was on an Indian tour and was scheduled to open the tour with a three-match T20i series.
West Indies who are considered as a T20 powerhouse, because of their hard-hitting style of cricket was expected to present a tough challenge to the team India.
Staying true to their status, the West Indian side gave the men in blue 209 runs target in the first T20i match of the series, with the help of Shimron Hetmyer’s brilliant half-century.
Indian cricket team in reply with the help of Virat Kohli (94*) and KL Rahul (62), chased down the target comfortably with 6 wickets and 8 balls to spare.
1] 209 vs Australia (Visakhapatnam, 2023)
Coming fresh off a huge World Cup final loss against the same team, and most of the senior players rested, the Indian team under Surya Kumar Yadav’s charge was given a tough task to start the five-match T20i series against Australia, in a winning fashion.
The Indian skipper won the toss and opted to bowl first.
However, Australia with the help of Josh Inglis’s blistering 110 and Steve Smith’s sensible 52 runs innings, Australia posted a mammoth total of 208 for 3 on the board, giving India their highest-ever T20i target to chase.
India in reply, lost both their openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (21), inside 30 runs mark.
However, the skipper Surya Kumar Yadav (80) alongside Ishan Kishan (58) added 112 runs for the third wicket, and finally, with the help of finishing touches from Rinku Singh (22*), India won the last ball thriller match by 2 wickets, completing their highest ever T20i chase.
Teams with the most 200+ chase
India with their successful chase against Australia, became the first team to chase down the 200+ title in T20i cricket successfully.
Check out the complete list of teams with successful 200+ chases in T20Is.
| S. No | Team | Number of times 200+ totals chased |
| 1 | India | 5 |
| 2 | South Africa | 4 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 3 |
| 4 | Australia | 3 |
