India see off Wade threat to make it 4-1
India managed to withstand a late assault from Matthew Wade to pick up another win and finish the T20I series 4-1. The visitors, chasing a consolation win, appeared to be in a very good position when a dangerous-looking Wade was dealing in boundaries. But Arshdeep Singh, making a return to the XI in this contest, delivered an excellent final over to deny the visitors in Bengaluru. India had only 10 runs on the board off the first 15 balls after Australia opted to bowl. Yashasvi Jaiswal then stepped up with a flurry of boundaries and looked set for more before he got a top-edge while attempting a pull to fall for 21. Ruturaj Gaikwad followed him soon as the right-hander never got going on the night. Ben Dwarshuis then picked up the huge wicket of Suryakumar Yadav as the Indian skipper failed to fire despite walking out to bat fairly early.
A promising partnership was brought to an end by Aaron Hardie in his final over but Axar Patel stepped up for the home side alongside Shreyas. Axar hit a valuable 21-ball 31 before succumbing to a knuckle ball whereas Shreyas at the other end managed to bring up a fighting half-century with a six and a four off successive deliveries again as India managed to finish with a fighting 160 on the board.
While India made only 9 in their first two overs, Australia got off to a flier with Travis Head hammering the first three balls of the run chase to the fence. He added one more in the second over as Australia looked to assert their dominance. But Mukesh Kumar gave India a vital breakthrough as Josh Phillippe dragged one onto his stumps before Ravi Bishnoi did his thing. The legspinner has been very impressive in the powerplay this series and his stocks only grew after he managed to castle Head, who had just smashed him for a six the previous ball. While Australia had knocked off 50 in the powerplay, Bishnoi struck again with another googly to peg them back.
Walking out to bat early, Ben McDermott was only dealing in sixes and those hits ensured Australia kept up with the asking rate. Having pulled just his third delivery for a six, McDermott sent one to the roof before going into a shell with Australia losing wickets. A six from Tim David then appeared to put Australia back on track before McDermott hammered his fourth biggie of the night. Australia appeared to be in a very good position when a fifth six brought the equation down to 60 from 42 before a thrilling climax sealed it for India.
India nudged ahead when David top-edged a pull as Axar finished with excellent figures of 1/14. McDermott then smashed another six, this time off Arshdeep, to bring up a fifty but his wicket in the same over brought India firmly back into the contest. Mukesh then came back to strike twice in one over that stunned Australia and put India on top again. However, Wade’s brilliance in the 18th over changed the entire complexion. Taking on Avesh Khan, Wade managed to hit three back-to-back boundaries and suddenly, the equation was down to 15 off 12. That became 11 off 8 when Wade added to his boundary tally and from thereon, it was definitely Australia’s game to lose. But there was another twist in the offing as Arshdeep delivered an excellent final over. Needing 10 from 6, Wade couldn’t connect the first two deliveries and was dismissed off the next, which ended the chase once and for all.
Brief scores:
India 160/8 in 20 overs (Yashawi Jaiswal 21, Shreya Iyer 53, Jitesh Sharma 24, Axar Patel 31; Aaron Hardie 1-21, Jason Berendorff 2-38, Been Dwarshuis 2-30, Nathan Ellis 1-42, Tanveer Sangha 1-26) beat Australia 154/8 in 20 overs (Travis Head 28, Ben McDermott 54, Mathew Wade 22; Arshdeep Singh 2-40, Mukesh Kumar 3-32, Ravi Bishnoi 2-29, Axar Patel 1-14) by 6 runs
