The Indian team's top players, Suryakumar Yadav and Arshdeep Singh, defeated Western Australia XI by 13 runs on Monday in the first practise match played at the WACA Stadium.
Western Australia XI made 158/6 in their 20 overs, with Suryakumar scoring the most with 52 off 35 balls and three fours and as many sixes, before being bowled out for 11/4 in 2.5 overs by Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who each took two wickets.
San Fanning, age 21, attempted to lead Western Australia XI to an unlikely victory with a 53-ball 59 that included five fours and a six. But India was able to prevail since he became Arshdeep's third victim of the contest in the 17th over.
Talisman Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Ravichandran Ashwin were absent from India's first practise match, and skipper Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant opened the batting instead.
Sharma, who chose to bat first, struggled against Jason Behrendorff and was out for three runs on the first ball of the left-arm fast bowler's spell. Prior to being defeated by Behrendorff, Deepak Hooda, who was moved up to number three, scored 22 runs off 14 balls while hitting two fours and a six.
Pant had trouble finding his rhythm the entire inning. He hit a boundary off Andrew Tye, but immediately after, he holed out on the next ball to the fielder in the deep. Before Hardik Pandya was bowled by Matt Kelly, Suryakumar and Pandya (27 off 20 balls) had a partnership of 49 runs.
Suryakumar, who had just passed his fifty-over mark and was showing off some creative shots, holed out off bowler Jhye Richardson, who was bothering both him and Dinesh Karthik, five overs later. Axar Patel smashed a stunning six down the middle but was bowled out by Kelly's scorching yorker, and Dinesh Karthik continued to bat without being hit, reaching 19 off 23 balls to help India pass the 150-mark.
In his first over, Bhuvneshwar caught D'Arcy Short from behind while defending 158. But Arshdeep, who dismissed Nick Hobson and Aaron Hardie in the space of four balls in his first over, was the one who shattered the Western Australia XI's pursuit. Western Australia XI were in trouble at 11/4 in 2.5 overs when Ashton Turner was clean bowled by Bhuvneshwar with two slips.
After being dropped at three, Fanning and Cameron Bancroft put on a 45-run partnership for the fifth wicket until the latter was bowled cleanly by Yuzvendra Chahal. Together with all-rounder Hamish McKenzie, he then picked up the pace, scoring 48 runs in 6.2 overs.
Fanning got good fortune when he was caught off a no-ball from Harshal Patel, who finished with overall stats of 1/49 in four overs despite giving up 21 runs per over. Chahal eliminated Mackenzie after he was bowled by Arshdeep, and Tye was caught and bowled by Patel to secure an Indian triumph. On Thursday, the two teams will play in another exhibition game at the same location.
Brief Scores: India 158/6 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 52, Hardik Pandya 27; Jason Behrendorff 2/26, Matt Kelly 2/43) beat Western Australia XI (Sam Fanning 59, Cameron Bancroft 22; Arshdeep Singh 3/6, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/15) by 13 runs