Arshdeep Singh proved why he is considered as the death-over specialist after eking out a thrilling six-run win over Australia in the fifth T20I clash at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on December 3, Sunday.
Arshdeep conceded just three runs in the last over when Australia needed 10 runs to win the match with their skipper on strike. But Arshdeep held his nerve and produced two consecutive dot balls and then followed up with the most prized wicket of Wade, which turned the face of the match. Having already sealed the series before the match, India closed the five-match outing with 4-1. Arshdeep returned with an impressive bowling figures of 40/2 in his four-over spell.
Meanwhile, after the match, Arshdeep revealed Suryakumar Yadav's advice in the last over which helped him produce his ace game to the fore and ultimately win it for Team India.
“I was thinking that I gave away too many runs (in the first three overs) and was hoping for another chance, and thanks to God, I defended it and also thanks to the staff that they believed in me. Surya (before bowling the final over) told me whatever happens, happens, and credit goes to the batters as well. We had a cushion of 15-20 runs and it was definitely more than par. According to the standards we have set as an Indian team, it was not near par (speaking about his performances in this series) but there are a lot of learnings to take and hoping to come back stronger,” Arshdeep said in the post-match presentation.
Batting first, India rode on Shreyas Iyer's blistering 53 off 37 to post a challenging total of 160 on the board. In reply, despite Ben McDermott's brilliant fifty Australia ran out of steam in the last and were reduced to 154/8.
Meanwhile, India skipper Suryakumar after the match said," It was a good series. The way the boys showed their skills was commendable. We wanted to be fearless and enjoy. Very happy with that. If he (Washington Sundar) would have been there it'd have been an add-on. 160-175 is a tricky score here. After 10 overs, I told the boys that it's game on."
Australia captain Wade, who impressed with a fighting 22 off 15 balls, rued Australia's loss and said,"I thought we bowled relatively well. Disappointing last five or six overs (with the bat). There's always a temptation to promote (himself) especially against the spinners. My job is to get the team home in situations like tonight We have played some good cricket. McDermott has bounced back. You don't get harder conditions than this."
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