Australian wicketkeeper-batsman and stand-in captain Matthew Wade has blamed the failure of his bowlers to execute their plans in the death overs for their 6-wicket defeat in the series decider second T20I of the three-match series against India on Sunday (December 6) in Sydney.
Chasing 195 at SCG, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya (42* off 22) and Shreyas Iyer chased down 37 runs from the final three overs to take the Men in Blue over the line inside 19 overs after Shikhar Dhawan’s fifty and captain Virat Kohli’ 40 took the tourists to front seat against Australia.
Batting first, Australia posted a total of 194 owing to knocks of 58 and 46 from Wade and Steve Smith, as no Indian bowler except T Natarajan was able to trouble the hosts and they dropped catches but at the end, Pandya and Iyer helped the tourists to gain an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
Defending the total, Andrew Tye provided the much-needed breakthrough to Australia as he dismissed Rahul (30) in the sixth over and then Adam Zampa dismissed Dhawan in the 12th over, but they couldn’t consistently trouble the tourists and eventually suffered a defeat as well as lost the series to India.
Wade said after the match, “It was good fun. Lot more fun till Hardik came out. Maybe a little bit short with the bat. Unfortunately, we did not execute well towards the end with the ball.”
He concluded, “When you get a start like that you want to push but I was disappointed with the way I got out and the timing of my wicket as well. Zampa has been outstanding for the last few years. We just could not execute it well in the end.”
Noteworthy, the third and final T20I will be played on Tuesday, December 8 followed by the four-match Test series starting on 17 December at the Adelaide Oval.
(With ANI Inputs)
