Spidercam survived a line drive from Glenn Maxwell and Australia survived some late bowling wobbles to start their T20 series against India with a tight victory at a wet and occasionally wild Gabba.
After Maxwell and Chris Lynn found their range with the bat for the Australians, Marcus Stoinis came up trumps in the final over to help the home side secure a four-run victory as the series heads to Melbourne on Friday.
Match-winner: Marcus Stoinis celebrates with Aaron Finch after getting the wicket of Dinesh Karthik at the Gabba.Credit:AAP
With a brutal 76 from Shikhar Dhawan spearheading their chase of a rain-adjusted total of 174 from 17 overs, India found themselves needing 13 from the final over for victory.
Instead, they lost a pair of wickets, one of them to a brilliant Maxwell catch, as Australia celebrated a much-needed morale booster heading into what shapes to be a challenging summer of Test cricket.
Adam Zampa (2-22) was the key bowler for Australia as he put the brakes on India, who set about the chase with vigour and looked as if they would overhaul the target with ease heading into the final over.
But coach Justin Langer had something to celebrate on his 48th birthday, with Stoinis stepping up when it counted and India unable to convert their strong position on their first outing of the tour.
Lynn hasn't often managed to translate his BBL dominance into international cricket but looked right at home in familiar surroundings when he came to the crease for the Australians earlier.
D'Arcy Short went for seven before Lynn joined skipper Aaron Finch in the middle. He swiftly unleashed, banging out four sixes and a four in a blistering 37 (20 balls) to fast-forward the run rate as the storm clouds began to threaten.
Finch was in good touch as well, compiling 27 from 24 before Kuldeep Yadav had him caught by Khaleel Ahmed. Enter Maxwell, who didn't take long to find the middle as he propelled Australia towards a competitive target.
By the time the rain had sent the players scurrying from the field, Australia were 3-153 from 16.1 overs, with Maxwell on 44 and looking as if he was going to raise the bat for a half-century.
He'd even managed to sky one straight into spidercam, which caught some impressive vision as the white Kookaburra sped upwards and swiftly rattled the equipment. It was called a dead ball and spidercam remained alive, if concussed, to film the rest of the match.
It didn't need much longer to capture the departure of Maxwell, who was out on the very first ball upon the resumption, ending the night with 46 from 24 deliveries. Stoinis (33 not out) and Ben McDermott (2 not out) saw out the remaining four balls as Australia finished at 4-158.
Duckworth Lewis adjustments meant India needed 174 from 17 overs and they made a bright start, racing to 1-61 from seven overs with only Rohit Sharma (7) back in the rooms.
Dhawan was leading the charge, bringing up his 50 off 27 balls as he flicked Jason Behrendorff over the fence for his first six, to go with eight boundaries. He helped himself to 17 off a fruitful over and looked unstoppable.
Zampa was able to stem the flow of runs and picked up the wicket of Lokesh Rahul (13) before claiming a far bigger scalp.
After a missed chance against Dhawan, he had Virat Kohli slicing one to Lynn and the skipper was on his way for four, reducing India to 3-96, before Billy Stanlake saw the in-form Dhawan on his way after his attempt to guide one over the ropes fell to Behrendorff.
India needed a spark with the match slipping away. Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik swung momentum dramatically as they savaged AJ Tye for 25 from his over, putting them right back in the equation as they raced to 4-139 at the start of the 14th over.
India needed 24 from the final two overs, with Tye first up after making a meal of things previously. Karthik clouted him for a boundary from his first ball, then he bowled a wide. Then, some relief, with Pant flopping one up to Behrendorff as he departed for 20.
That left Krunal Pandya to try and continue the attack, although Tye was done for the night, ending with the unhappy figures of 1-47 from his three overs.
It was up to Stoinis to halt India's hopes of getting 13 from the final over. He came up with two, a dot ball and then a wicket, with Maxwell taking an excellent diving catch at long on to dismiss Pandya.
The equation was 11 off three balls and Stoinis was delivering for his skipper. He was on a hat-trick when Karthik holed out to Behrendorff and would see Australia to a four-run win.
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