In a nail-biting encounter at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, India beat Australia in the three-T20I series decider by six wickets. After half-centuries from Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya held his nerves to guide India home with one ball to spare. With a thrilling win, Rohit Sharma surpassed Kohli with his 33rd win in T20Is as a captain.
Decent start
In the run chase of 187, India lost KL Rahul in the first over. Daniel Sams got his wicket off the last ball of the over. Skipper Rohit tried to keep up with the required run rate but got out to Pat Cummins in the fourth over. Rohit scored 17 runs from 14 deliveries and got out in the fourth over. After the powerplay overs, India had 50/2 on the board as Kohli took on Josh Hazlewood.
Kohli-Surya partnership
Suryakumar joined Kohli in the middle and took the Australian bowling attack apart. In the middle overs, Cameron Green's economical spell kept Australia in the game but Adam Zampa turned out to be the weak link. He conceded 44 runs from his quota of four overs. Suryakumar reached his half-century from 29 deliveries with a six off Zampa. Just when India were taking the game away from Australia, Hazlewood broke the partnership. Suryakumar was dismissed in the 14th over. He scored 69 runs from 36 deliveries including five fours and as many sixes.
Kohli takes charge
In the 17th over, Kohli got to his half-century from 37 deliveries. Green and Sams bowled two economical overs to keep their team in the game. Hardik held on to his nerves and got the timely boundary. In the final over, India needed 11 runs to win. Kohli hit him for a six off the first ball but got out off the next. Kohli scored 63 runs from 48 deliveries including three fours and four sixes.
Pandya finishes it off
Dinesh Karthik took a single off the first ball and Sams followed it up with a dot ball. India needed four runs off the last two deliveries. Sams bowled it full and wide but Pandya managed to get a thick edge off the bat which beat the short third man fielder. India won the game by six wickets with a ball to spare. Pandya remained unbeaten for 25 runs from 16 balls including two fours and one six.
Green goes boom
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to field first. Chris Green went ballistic in the powerplay overs and didn’t even spare Jasprit Bumrah. Meanwhile, skipper Aaron Finch lost his wicket to Axar Patel in the fourth over for a single-digit score. The wicket did not affect Green and he kept on hitting boundaries. On the third ball of the fifth over, Green completed his half-century from just 19 deliveries. Green entered history books with the fastest fifty against India in the format. However, he could not carry on and lost his wicket to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the same over. He scored 52 runs from 21 deliveries including seven fours and three sixes.
Slow middle overs
Despite losing two wickets in the powerplay overs, the visitors had 66/2 on the board. In the eighth over Glenn Maxwell copped a controversial dismissal. Maxwell was given out despite Dinesh Karthik removing the bail before gathering the ball. However, the other bail went off after Karthik collected the ball and he was given out. Maxwell could score just six runs from 11 deliveries. Just before the halfway stage, Steve Smith got out too. Smith got stumped as he was deceived by Yuzvendra Chahal's googly. Smith scored just nine runs from 10 deliveries.
Josh Inglis and Tim David got Australia back on track. Axar was brought back into the attack and he got Inglis' wicket for the second time in the series. Inglis scored 24 runs from 22 deliveries. Axar struck again in the 14th over and got rid of Matthew Wade (1). Australlia were reduced to 117/6 in the 14th over.
David’s death overs blitz
David and Sams went berserk in the final three overs. In the death overs, Bhuvneshwar was taken apart once again. He was hit for 21 runs in the 18th over including two sixes and one four. In the penultimate over, Sams took on Bumrah. Harshal Patel bowled the final over and was welcomed with a six by David. The Singapore-born batter reached his maiden T20I fifty for Australia from just 25 deliveries. Patel came back well and got the wicket of David. he scored 54 runs from 27 deliveries including two fours and four sixes. In the last three balls, he conceded just one run as Australia posted 186/7.
