India and Australia played out another thriller in the T20I series-decider which was hosted by Hyderabad on Sunday (September 25). The series was level at 1-1 after India beat Australia in a 8 overs per-side clash in Nagpur by six wickets, with the visitors winning the first game in Mohali by four wickets.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Australia to bat first. Opener Cameron Green smashed a 19-ball fifty before spinners Akshar Patel (3/33) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/22) brought India back into the contest.
Australia slipped from 62/1 in the 5th over to 117/6 in the 14th over before Tim David unleashed his powerful strokes with a 27-ball 54 to help his team finish at 186/7.
Chasing a target of 187 in a series-decider is not an easy task and it got tougher when KL Rahul (1) and Rohit Sharma (17) were dismissed cheaply. Virat Kohli (63) and Suryakumar Yadav (69) put on a century stand before the latter was dismissed with India needing 53 more in six overs.
Australia's bowlers built pressure on Kohli after his half-century and Hardik Pandya who took a bit of time to get going and eventually the equation came down to 11 off the last over bowled by Daniel Sams.
Kohli smashed a six off the first ball, his fourth overall and then departed on the next delivery leaving five runs in four balls. He was disappointed not to finish off the game but his innings had all but ensured a win for his team.
The Indian dugout stood up as Virat walked back to the dressing room, while captain Rohit gave him a pat on the back for his marvellous innings under pressure that confirmed he's back to his best - an encouraging sign ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Dinesh Karthik took a single off his first delivery and Hardik smashed the winning boundary off the penultimate ball of the match to seal a six-wicket win and 2-1 series victory for India.
