AUS v IND | 3rd T20I: Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade save Australia from a whitewash
Australia took the field at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday, knowing that a loss would lead to T20I series whitewash. Trailing 2-0 in the three match T20I series, the hosts salvaged some pride in the third T20I as a valiant knock from Matthew Wade coupled with a brilliant bowling display from Mitchell Swepson handed Australia a victory.
Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to chase down the target, which they managed to do successfully in the second T20I. Kohli named an unchanged playing 11. For Australia, it was back to usual once again as Aaron Finch recovered in time for the final T20I and replaced Marcus Stoinis in the eleven.
“We are going to bowl. Shorter boundaries and we had a good game last time and for the bowling line-up as well we wanted to be more professional and test ourselves. It’s been a really good year for us in terms of T20 cricket, if we keep staying ahead of the opposition, and as a group we want to make sure we keep getting those results and win games of cricket. No changes,” said Kohli after winning the toss.
Australia lose Finch early but Matthew Wade gives them a good start
Australia began their innings in a poor fashion as Aaron Finch was caught at mid-off by Hardik Pandya after miscuing a shot off Washington Sundar’s bowling. Steven Smith and Matthew Wade steadied the ship and were carrying on the innings very well up until the ninth over. Wade raced to a score of 48 runs in just 33 balls, whereas Steven Smith played a supporting role scoring 18 runs in 19 balls, at a strike rate of just under 100.
Steven Smith was clean bowled by youngster, Washington Sundar in the tenth over who picked up his second wicket of the match. The score read 82-2 at the halfway mark with Glenn Maxwell and Wade in the middle.
Also Read: AUS A Vs IND A : What We Learnt From Three-Day Warm-Up Match In Sydney
Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade set a daunting target for India
Glenn Maxwell who rediscovered his form in the ODI series against India, after a disastrous IPL campaign, delivered with the bat once again in the last T20I. Maxwell scored 54 runs in just 35 balls and was cleaned bowled by T.Natarajan in the final over. It was Matthew Wade’s knock that played a crucial role in Australia reaching a score of 186 for the loss of five wickets at the end of 20 overs. The left handed batsman scored 80 runs in just 53 balls that included seven boundaries and two maximums.
The star performer in the first T20I, Yuzvendra Chahal did not have a great day at the office as he went wicket less and conceded 41 runs in his four overs. Washington Sundar was the best bowler for the India team after picking up two crucial wickets of Aaron Finch and Steven Smith and conceding 34 runs in his four overs.
Virat Kohli gets a good start after Lokesh Rahul is dismissed in the first over
India got off to similar start like Australia, losing Lokesh Rahul in the very first over after a gamble by Finch to hand the first over to Glenn Maxwell. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan got together a good partnership as India raced to a score of 69 runs at the end of eight overs.
Mitchell Swepson got the breakthrough for Australia as he dismissed Dhawan in his second over. At the halfway mark, India’s score read 82 runs with the loss of two wickets, a similar score to that of Australia after ten overs.
A brilliant spell by Mitchell Swepson overpowers Virat Kohli’s 85 run knock
Mitchell Swepson dented India’s hopes of a series whitewash after he picked up two wickets in just one over. He dismissed Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer in the 13th over, taking his total wicket tally in the match to three wickets.
Virat Kohli played a gutsy knock of 85 runs in just 61 balls which included four boundaries and three sixes. India were given some hope of winning the match after Kohli and Pandya combined to score 20 runs off Daniel Sams in the 16th over. However, Pandya was dismissed by Zampa in the 18th over, a gamble which worked again for Finch.
Needing 35 runs in two overs, it was a make or break situation for Virat Kohli. However, he could not guide India home as he was dismissed by Andrew Tye after a brilliant catch by Daniel Sams. Shardul Thakur struck some good blows towards the end but India eventually lost by 12 runs, ending their unbeaten streak of 11 consecutive wins in T20Is.
Hardik Pandya bags the Player of the Series award for his stupendous performance in the T20I series.#AUSvIND #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/Ukscwfojqz
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2020
Mitchell Swepson was awarded the man of the match award for his incredible spell and Hardik Pandya was given the man of series award. Australia held their nerve in the end to avoid a series whitewash. Next up is the test series, which gets underway from December 17.