Axar Patel starred with a three-wicket haul and Rinku Singh blazed away with a 29-ball 46 as India defeated Australia by 20 runs in the fourth T20I at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side bounced back in style after going down to the current World champion in Guwahati with a clinical performance to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Challenging total
Put in, India rode on Rinku, and Jitesh Sharma’s late blitz, to post a challenging 174 for nine in 20 overs.
In reply, Australia was restricted to 154 for seven in 20 overs. While Axar picked up three wickets, Deepak Chahar took two with Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan taking one each. Axar (4-0-16-3) and Bishnoi (4-0-17-1) spun a web around the Australian batsmen in favourable conditions. The spinners didn’t allow the Australians to run away with the game after Josh Philippe and Travis Head provided a fiery start to the innings sending Chahar on a leather hunt.
Chahar, who was drafted into the side for the final two T20s, came a cropper as he leaked 22 runs in his second over before Suryakumar introduced spin.
Wild sweep
Bishnoi struck off his very first ball by cleaning up Phillippe, who attempted a wild sweep only to see the ball sneak under his bat and crash onto the stumps.
Axar, too, made an immediate impact as he removed the dangerous Head.
India piled on the pressure with the left-arm spinner picking up his second wicket in a space of eight balls by castling Aaron Hardie and then earning his third with a slower delivery that knocked back Ben McDermott’s off-stump.
Required run rate
Tim David and Matthew Short had a job on their hands with Australia needing 76 off 36 balls, and the required rate hovering close to 13 per over.
However, Chahar came back into the attack to dismiss David and Short to shut the door on Australia.
Earlier, Rinku hit a quickfire 29-ball 46 and dominated the game during his stay at the wicket to help India post a competitive total.
Rinku and Jitesh forged a brilliant 56-run stand in just 32 balls for the fifth wicket, but India lost its way at the back end of the innings and imploded at the death, losing five wickets and scoring just 13 runs in the last two overs.
Australia pulled things back in dramatic fashion and stopped India from crossing the 200-run barrier for the first time in the series.
However, the visitors faltered in the chase, with the Indian bowlers delivering the goods when it mattered the most.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA
Yashasvi Jaiswal c McDermott b Hardie 37 (28b, 6×4, 1×6), Ruturaj Gaikwad c Dwarshuis b Sangha 32 (28b, 3×4, 1×6), Shreyas Iyer c Green b Sangha 8 (7b), Suryakumar Yadav c Wade b Dwarshuis 1 (2b), Rinku Singh lbw b Behrendorff 46 (29b, 4×4, 2×6), Jitesh Sharma c Head b Dwarshuis 35 (19b, 1×4, 3×6), Axar Patel c Sangha b Dwarshuis 0 (1b), Deepak Chahar c Green b Behrendorff 0 (2b), Ravi Bishnoi run out 4 (3b), Avesh Khan (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-4): 10; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 174.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-50 (Jaiswal, 5.6 overs), 2-62 (Shreyas, 7.5), 3-63 (Suryakumar 8.1), 4-111 (Ruturaj, 13.2), 5-167 (Jitesh, 18.4), 6-168 (Axar, 18.5), 7-168 (Rinku, 19.1), 8-169 (Chahar, 19.3), 9-174 (Bishnoi, 19.6).
AUSTRALIA BOWLING
Hardie 3-1-20-1, Behrendorff 4-0-32-2, Dwarshuis 4-0-40-3, Green 4-0-36-0, Sangha 4-0-30-2, Short 1-0-10-0.
AUSTRALIA
Travis Head c Mukesh b Axar 31 (16b, 5×4, 1×6), Josh Philippe b Bishnoi 8 (7b, 2×4), Ben McDermott b Axar 19 (22b, 1×4), Aaron Hardie b Axar 8 (9b, 1×4), Tim David c Jaiswal b Chahar 19 (20b, 1×6), Matthew Short c Jaiswal b Chahar 22 (19b, 2×4, 1×6), Matthew Wade (not out) 36 (23b, 2×4, 2×6), Ben Dwarshuis b Avesh 1 (2b), Chris Green (not out) 2 (3b); Extras (lb-2, w-5, nb-1): 8; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 154.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-40 (Philippe, 3.1), 2-44 (Head, 4.4), 3-52 (Hardie, 6.2), 4-87 (McDermott, 11.2), 5-107 (David, 14.4), 6-126 (Short, 16.4), 7-133 (Dwarshuis, 17.3).
INDIA BOWLING
Chahar 4-0-44-2, Mukesh 4-0-42-0, Bishnoi 4-0-17-1, Axar 4-0-16-3, Avesh 4-0-33-1.
Toss: Australia; PoM: Axar
India won by 20 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in five-match series.
Fifth and final T20I: Dec. 3, Bengaluru, 7 p.m.