Riding on Dhawan and Kohli's batting brilliance, followed by a rescue from Hardik Pandya, India defeated Australia by 6 wickets in a thrilling T20I. With this win, India clinched the T20I series in Australia after 2016.
Toss: India opted to field first
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Team News: Daniel Sams, Andrew Tye & Marcus Stoinis comes in (Australia)
Shreyas Iyer & Shardul Thakur come in (India)
Detailed Report
First innings:
Mathew Wade became the 11th player who led Australia in T20I. He opened the innings with Short, and Natarajan got D’arcy Short after a quick opening start. Wade completed the fifty on just 25-balls, and Kohli got him run-out after dropping a sitter.
Maxwell and Smith constructed the innings, and Shardul struck with the slower ball as he bagged dangerous Maxwell on 22. Henriques and Smith added vital 48 runs for the 4th wicket. Smith scored fine 46 after going out in Chahal’s last over. Natarajan finished yet another excellent spell with 2 for 20, and with 17 runs from the final over, Australia finished on a huge 194.
2nd innings:
India off a blistering start in the chase. Maxwell conceded 19 runs in his first over to provide early acceleration to team India. Tye provided the breakthrough with the wicket of KL Rahul after 56 runs-stand. Dhawan scored yet another half-century on this tour, but Zampa scalped him on 52 to give India a big blow.
Samson looked good, but he couldn’t convert his start. In the final 6 overs, India required 72 runs, having Kohli and Pandya in the middle. Sams got Kohli after 24-balls 40 to add some twist to the game. India avoided any blow in the end and chased down the target with 6 wickets in hand. Pandya remained not out on 42 and finished the game with a huge six.
Star-performer of the match
Hardik Pandya is our star performer of the match for his match-winning knock. Chasing a big target of 195, India needed 72 off the last six and 14 off the final. The right-hander scored 42 off just 22 balls, and his acceleration helped India take the series home.
5 players who made an impact in this game:
Mathew Wade 58 (32)
Natarajan 4-0-20-2
Shikhar Dhawan 52 (36)
Virat Kohli 40 (24)
Hardik Pandya 42 (22)
