India and Australia will conclude the T20I series with the final T20I on Tuesday. India convincingly defeated the hosts in the first two matches to wrap up the series.
Match Timings: Dec 08, 1:40 PM IST
Team Preview
Team India will face Australia in the last white-ball outing against Australia. The victory in the final ODI boosted the confidence, and it delivered the best outcome in the T20I series. India sealed the T20I series on Sunday with a record-chase in Sydney, riding on Hardik Pandya’s 22-balls 42. The entire chase started with a positive note as Dhawan scored a fine half-century and Kohli contributed a vital 40 in middle-overs.
It was India’s 10th consecutive T20I victory, the biggest winning streak ever for Men In Blue. Virat Kohli has now won the T20I series in SENA countries (SA, ENG, NZ & AUS). The Men in Blue would aim to extend the winning streak to 11 and add one more clean sweep Down Under. India has recently whitewashed New Zealand, and in 2016, they did the same with Australia under MS Dhoni.
Natarajan has been excellent with the bowl in both games, and in the previous game, he went for just 20 and scalped two wickets. In the first match, he picked three wickets for 30 and played a vital role in the victory at Canberra. In the absence of Jadeja, India was required to fire from the middle-order, and Pandya did the job in SCG. For the final match, India can rest to a top-order batsman to prepare for the Test series. India will take part in the second warm-up game, which will be played with the Pink Ball. Either Dhawan or KL Rahul might be rested, or even Kohli can give himself a rest for the first Test.
Meanwhile, Australia didn’t expect this turnaround after a convincing ODI series win. In the first match, the middle-order hoax delivered them a dramatic 11-runs defeat, and in the second game, India completely outclassed them. 194 was a substantial total in Sydney, and Australia provided an early acceleration to India in the powerplay. When Kohli got out to Daniel Sams, Australia could have taken this game in its favour. India required 23 off the last 9, and the game was in reasonable control of Australia, but they conceded these runs with two balls spare.
The hosts rested its major players, and some injury concerns troubled its team combination. Finch will likely to lead Australia on Tuesday, and Nathan Lyon can get a game in place of Swepson or Zampa. Langer can also rest Steve Smith to give the Test specialist some time to prepare for the upcoming Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide. D Arcy Short hasn’t impressed much in the opening slot, and the hosts can try Alex Carey and Mathew Wade together in the final squad.
Pitch Report
SCG’s surface is a pure batting wicket. In three matches, this home summer, it has produced high-scoring affairs. The chasing side will still have an advantage. Pacers can get better help comparing to spinners.
Possible XI
Australia
Aaron Finch (C), Marcus Stoinis, Steven Smith/Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Matthew Wade (c & wk), Daniel Sams, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa/Nathan Lyon, Andrew Tye
India
KL Rahul (wk), Shikhar Dhawan/Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey/Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal
Key Players
India
Virat Kohli
On Australia tour – M: 5, Runs: 222, Avg: 44.4
Previous outing – 40 (24)
Hardik Pandya
On Australia tour – M: 5, Runs: 268, Avg: 89.33
Previous outing – 42 (22)
Australia
Adam Zampa
Home summer 2020- M: 5, Wickets: 9, Avg: 25.33
Glenn Maxwell
Home summer 2020– M: 5, Runs: 191, SR: 172
