India clinch the home T20I series 3-1 against Australia defeating them in the fourth T20I by 20 runs at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday. The win also gives India their third successive T20I series win against the Kangaroos.
India defeated Australia by 20 runs to clinch the home T20I series against Australia maintaining the lead 3-1. The match, played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday saw India claiming the series after the heartbreaking loss against Australia in the World Cup final. The Aussie batters tried hard but it was the Indian bowlers who kept it intact to seal the series for their side.
Chasing 175 runs, Australia were up to a flying but shaky start as flamboyant opener Travis Head (31 off 16) hit the bowlers all around the circle but Ravi Bishnoi drew the first blood, sending Josh Philippe (8 off 7), the opening counterpart back. The batting line-up further produced brief knocks as India’s bowlers didn’t leave a chance for them to go big. Axar Patel picked three wickets and was followed by Deepak Chahar bagging two with Bishnoi and Avesh Khan getting a wicket apiece. Matthew Short (22 off 19) and Matthew Wade (36* off 23) put up great efforts but both fell well short of the target leaving the scoreboard to 154 for seven after a full 20 overs.
Earlier, riding on Rinku Singh’s (29-ball 46) and Jitesh Sharma’s (19-ball 35) fiery knocks, India managed to put 174 runs on the scoreboard at the cost of nine wickets. India were 167 for four in 18.3 overs but lost another five wickets for only seven runs in the final two overs, courtesy of Ben Dwarshuis (3/40) and Jason Behrendorff (2/32) as Australia decided to bowl first.
It was a great start for the Aussies with the maiden first over by Aaron Hardie before Yashasvi Jaiswal (37 off 28 balls) switched gears in the second over by Jason Behrendorff. He didn’t stop there and went on to smash Dwarshuis in the third for three boundaries to set the rhythm for his side. For the first three overs, Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 off 28 balls) watched the action from the other end and only got the strike in the fourth.
Gaikwad opened his account with a boundary off Behrendorff’s over making a cut. Jaiswal continued with his aggressive mode and thrashed the debutant spinner Chris Green next before Aaron Hardie was called back into the attack. The change didn’t suit up well for the Aussies as Jaiswal smashed him for a four but the over later brought out his wicket as Ben McDermott caught the good of him.🏆🇮🇳
