AUS v IND 2018-19: 3rd T20I – Kohli and Dhawan help India trounce Australia by 6 wkts; series leveled 1-1

Krunal Pandya shined with a four wicket haul in SCG.

Krunal's 4/36 are the best figures by an Indian spinner in T20Is in Australia | GettyAustralia and India clashed in the third and final T20I of the series at the magnificent Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), with Australia looking for their maiden T20I series win over India with a lead of 1-0.

Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and chose to bat first and Mitchell Starc came in for Billy Stanlake. India meanwhile went in unchanged into the must-win match.

Finch (28) and Short (33) added 68 runs in 8.3 overs before Kuldeep had Finch caught by Krunal. Before that, Virat Kohli had given him a life, by dropping him at long on. Then the Pandya (4/36) show came on, as he removed the dangerous Short, an ominous looking Maxwell (13), McDermott (0) and Alex Carey (27) to attain the best figures by an Indian spinner in T20Is in Australia.

Marcus Stoinis again proved to be a difficult customer for India to dislodge, as his 15-ball 25* took Australia to 164/6. They took 40 odd runs off the last 4 overs against Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, widely considered the best death overs bowlers in the format.

Indian reply was like a hurricane as Shikhar Dhawan (41 in 22 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes) and Rohit Sharma (23 with 2 sixes and 1 four) added 67 runs in only 5.3 overs. However, Starc removed Dhawan and Zampa cleaned up Rohit to peg India back a bit.

However, Virat Kohli emerged the savior for his team with a brilliant unbeaten fifty in a terrific run chase. He was ably supported by Dinesh Karthik, who remained unbeaten on 22 with one four and one six.

Kohli (61* in 41 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours) finished the match in style with two boundaries off Andrew Tye and India leveled the series 1-1 by winning the match by 6 wickets.

BRIEF SCORES:
AUS 164/6 (D SHORT 33; K PANDYA 4/36) lost to IND 168/4 (V KOHLI 61*; S DHAWAN 41) by 6 wickets

Series drawn 1-1.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 25 Nov, 2018

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