Cricket enthusiasts were incredibly disheartened when the T20I match between India and Australia at Manuka Oval, Canberra, got water-logged and consequently abandoned on Tuesday. Rain had the final say despite the fact that India’s opening batters had made a hot-tempered start and the match was called off after just 9.4 overs.

The toss was won by the Australian side and their captain Mitchell Marsh decided that it would be safer to bowl first which later gave rise to some debate because India’s upper side got off to a very hot start. Scorings from Suryakumar Yadav (39* from 24) and Shubman Gill (37* from 20) ignited the flames and pushed India’s score to 97/1 before rain forced the second and final stoppage of play.

The player to have his wicket taken was Abhishek Sharma, who hit 19 off 14 balls before getting out to Nathan Ellis and Tim David at mid-off. Yadav was playing an extraordinarily aggressive game and the rain could not muffle the sound of his back-to-back boundaries, a mighty six, till then, his aggressive streak was still in full swing.

In the meantime among the Australian bowlers, Hazlewood with his figures of (3 overs, 24 runs) and Ellis (1.4 overs, 25 runs, 1 wicket) were very effective in their early bowling spells. However, rain-related stoppages limited the contest between bat and ball to very little. After several inspections and still no sign of an improvement in the situation, the umpires ultimately called the match off.

Due to the first match being washed out, the series of T20Is consisting of five matches is still even at 0-0. The teams will now prepare for the second T20I in Melbourne, which is set for October 31, 2025, meanwhile the audience is hoping for a smooth match without any rain interrupting as the T20 World Cup 2026 in India is on the anvil.